We shall work you from the beaches

In a recent DeskDemon poll, over half of you told us that your holiday had been interrupted by your boss or colleague and of those, a quarter of you were called more than once!

Switching off from work and spending time with your family and friends, must have been difficult for the 10% of you who reported that the office called them several times, and for the 16% who told that they were contacted too many times – did you get a break at all? We all know that PAs and secretaries are the lynchpin of any organisation, but surely employers can manage a week or two without you!

The secretarial community, it seems are not alone, when it comes to companies contacting you whilst you’re on your well earned break.

As those post holiday blues grip the nation, new research from MORE TH>N shows 2008 summer holidays have been the biggest burnout ever with 3.6 million Brits failing to recharge their batteries and recuperate whilst away.

Forget lost baggage, flight delays, fears of overspending or dodgy tummies, the research reveals that constant interruption from the boss has been the biggest cause of holiday stress for office workers this year.

Modern technologies such as mobile phones and Blackberry’s are also being blamed for the disruption and stress that has ruined the summer breaks of over one third of holidaymakers.

While most office workers get only one two-week holiday per year the research shows just how hard they find tuning out the pressures of the office and kicking back. A quarter of Brits say they didn’t even relax after seven days of sun, sea and sand.

And it seems British bosses have been disturbing our holidays more and more, the figures show how they’re making things more stressful before and after we go away too. 80% of office workers admitted they worked extra hours the week before jetting off having little time to wind down and get into the holiday spirits. A further 75% claim they put in additional time the week after they returned just to catch up.

Rounding off the somewhat depressing stress stats, the figures show just how quickly these workers lost any ‘warm holiday feeling’ they might have acquired – 85% say it disappeared completely before they had even set foot back in the office.

Commenting on the findings of the research, Keith Maxwell, Head of Travel Insurance , MORE TH>N adds “It seems that coming home from holiday feeling relaxed and recharged is a thing of the past for many of us. When post holiday blues hit, it used to be because we had returned from a relaxing break. Now it seems we come home just as stressed as we went.”.

To help ensure this trend doesn’t continue here’s a list of top holiday stress busting tips – to ensure your next break is not interrupted.

• If you know you’re going away remind your colleagues and your boss. Plenty of advance warning will enable them to arrange cover / share out the workload when you’re away.
• Make sure you write thorough handover notes – give people no excuse to call you whilst you’re on the beach. Bring you Desk Manual up to date and give it to a colleague to handle. Make sure everyone knows who has it.
• Pack and prepare early for your holiday – if work is unavoidable make sure everything else is sorted
• Tidy up all loose ends at work before you go – you don’t want anything playing on your mind when you’re away
• Don’t forget to put your ‘Out of Office’ automated email response on
• Leave a message on your voice mail explaining that you are on annual leave, when you are back, cannot be contacted during the period and give an alternative contact if their call is urgent.