Observations: 

• 60% of the participants in the Passport-photo.online study indicated that their bosses required them to stay connected while on vacation
• The credit executives responding to Credit Today are fortunate in that less than 16% are required to stay connected

Observations:

• In contrast to the first question, although the vast majority of credit executives are not required to stay connected while on vacation, 88.5 % feel pressured to do so, and over half of that group claims there is a lot of pressure
• This is very close to the percentages reported by Passport-Photo.online

Observations:

• Email autoresponders are widely used by credit executives when they are out of the office
• Also, a significant number also indicated they leave away messages on their phones (see the replies to question #5 below).

Observations:

• Most (61.5%) credit executives restrict their smartphone use while on vacation, checking their phones less than 5 times per day
• Very few (<4%) check their phones a lot, though there is a significant group (<35%) that takes the middle road.
• These figures are much lower than the Passport-photo.online study, which found that 71% check their cell phones 32 to 80 times per day.

5. Please tell us how you manage the work-life balance while you are on vacation. If you respond to messages, please let us know how you choose what to answer and what to ignore or leave for later. 

• It is really difficult to completely disengage from work while on vacation. I do respond to messages that are quickly answered via email. If something needs to be reviewed or looked up on a computer, I will advise that I am on PTO and will get them the information when I return.

• My immediate boss and my assistant have my cell phone number for "emergencies." I seldom hear from them. 

• Work-life balance can be achieved by not allowing cell phones to become a leash as a dog wears. I value my time away from work. The company does not pay me enough to get any more than a fair day's effort at work. You can probably tell I physically go to an office daily. I value the physical separation as well. 

• I check work emails while on vacation since I receive emails and purchase orders that need to be sent to our customer service department for processing of orders. Also, to tell let the person covering for me while I am out what needs to be addressed. During Xmas shut down, the bank account is checked daily and there are some wire transfers that need to be sent.

• I try to avoid looking at messages and have an auto-reply indicating who to contact in my absence. If I look then I am tempted to respond and there goes the time off. A couple of my key staff members have my cell phone number and can reach me if there is a dire emergency. 

• After being tethered to this job since the invention of smartphones, I have implemented the policy of dropping my phone when I walk in my house. I do not touch it until I am on my way back to work. Period. My time. 

• While I'm not required to check-in or reply to emails, I'll usually find time once/day to put out fires as long as I'm "stay-cationing." If I'm away from home then no, I don't. 

• It depends on the email - something from senior management or ownership - I will respond - most other things can be handled by my subordinates or back-ups.

• I usually check my emails once or twice a day - typically early in the morning. I only answer urgent and/or time sensitive emails. I don't spend more than 1/2 hour on any day. 

• If I'm on vacation, my team knows, as do all the other managers in the building. I only respond to messages that pose as an emergency (staff related) or company exposure to a serious problem. Our owners believe that vacation time means that. However, they also appreciate the fact that we still take active interest if something must be addressed ASAP. We all know in our own areas of expertise what that means. The autoresponder along with a telephone message lets the customers know I'm away. I have a strong backup and seldom do I get phone calls or messages that require my attention prior to my return. When that happens, I respond ASAP. 

• I check e-mail early in morning and sometimes late at night - seldom during day while on vacation - would rather stay current with e-mails day-to-day than return to work after a week off and have to deal with 1,000+ e-mails.

• If I take a day off, I usually check emails. If I am out of the country for a week, then I don't check. 

• Being the only one who does what I do for 2 companies and advising 30 other US affiliates, I really can't completely unplug. I don't respond to any emails I deem as non-urgent in nature but as I just have 1 cell phone for both company and personal use, all my emails come there anyway. If I can respond in less than a minute or two, I do. Otherwise, I forward it to my manager or leave it be until I get back. I get some 200 emails a day so it's difficult to get away although I do take all my vacations. Due to the fact I'm working from home, they really get more hours out of me than if I were in the office. 

• While I am on vacation and have the time, I will respond to emails only if it is critically important that I respond or provide my approval for priority issues. 

• I mostly answer late at night once my family is doing their own thing on their own smart phones and we are done for the day. My team knows emergencies need to be by text as I am not scrolling through emails on the beach. I do scroll thru emails mid-day looking only for emails from the executive team or ones that might be urgent and forward those to someone else to try and manage. 

• All email, text & voice messages are responded to in order of importance, setting aside 1 hour in the AM and 1 hour in the PM, then as needed throughout the day, normally as follows: 1) Company owner & staff, 2) Customers, and 3) Legal/Deadline related.

• My supporting staff texts me if there is a situation requiring my attention. Otherwise, I check my email for anything I feel is urgent, and handle accordingly. Anything that does directly affect an external customer is left alone until I return. 

• I take a laptop and an iPad on vacation to review new credit applications and put out "fires." I forward emails to my team so there is not a gap in AR operations, both internally and externally. 

Lastly, here is the infographic from the Passport-photo.online Study related to “Working on Vacation.”