Everyone dreams about taking months off work for those extravagant vacations. However, most jobs have a limited amount of PTO that one can take. One employee decided not to let that stop them. They "quiet vacationed" while on a trip to Italy. Basically, they took a month-long trip to Europe while only using a week of paid time off.
In an essay for Business Insider, the employee revealed how they pulled off the stunt without getting caught. They said they felt trapped in a golden cage. They didn't want to lose out on a steady paycheck. "I typically work between one to three hours a day, depending on the amount of meetings I have," they said. "No one at the company has ever raised suspicion that I'm not doing enough work, and I usually get rave reviews in appraisals."
Working for a tech company, the employee said they had a lot of free time during their schedule work day. They often finish tasks but pretend to still be working.
"During the day, I'll do everything but my job," they said. "I'll do chores or go to the grocery store, play video games, and call friends and family. If I meet a friend after work, I'll leave early and check the company's messaging platform on my way." However, those daily errands soon became full-scale vacations. They started "quietly taking time off for travel without taking PTO."
"It began with using work days to travel to the airport. Over time, I got bolder, knowing I could get away with it," they explained. "I went on a spa day with my partner, and last year, I took a trip, marking both the day I was leaving and returning as normal work days even though I was traveling."
Employee Takes Vacation On The Clock
However, their trip to Italy was on another scale. They ended up taking a month-long vacation without their boss being any the wiser.
"I'd log on in the morning, check my emails and messages, and plan my day around any meetings I had," they said. "I'd go out for the day, eat amazing food, see incredible sights, and make sure I was back home in time to join any online meetings. I usually have a fake background in meetings, so my colleagues couldn't see where I was."
They would often feign engagement and communicate regularly with their bosses online. This attentiveness fooled their bosses into thinking they were engaged in work. "When I was in a museum, I checked my messages on my phone every 30 minutes or so," they continued. "Most of the time, there weren't any to reply to."
They also used a mouse jiggler, which made it look like they were online even if they weren't
"The possibility of getting caught does live in the back of my mind, but I'd just be upfront with my boss and say, 'I do my job. What more do you want?'" they said. "I'm not sure if it would be a breach of contract, but even if it were and I was thrust into the job-searching world, it might be a good push from the universe to get me moving on to something else."
