How HR can offer summer flexibility without losing productivity

As summer arrives, employees are eager to enjoy warmer weather and more personal time. But new research suggests many are quietly adjusting their work habits—logging off early, stretching lunch breaks or even faking sick days—to claim the flexibility they crave.

Nearly four in five employees say achieving work-life balance in summer would boost their well-being, according to a Dayforce survey of 2,005 full-time workers across Canada, the U.S. and U.K

However, an equal proportion are feeling pressured to maintain typical productivity levels despite the seasonal shift.

Karen MacMillan, assistant professor of organizational behaviour at Ivey Business School, says HR leaders need to shift how they define success in this context.

“It’s hard to control employees, and sometimes managers or leaders think that that's what the job is, is to keep those noses to the grindstone as much as humanly possible,” she says.

“But I think we need to rethink that and maybe consider that that is not the key objective.”

Summer flexibility and productivity

Most employees aren't productive throughout every hour of the workday, Macmillan says — regardless of the season. This is why there are opportunities to allow for flexibility without taking productivity hits, she says, by working with employees to maximize their days.

“There are many studies that say workers in an eight-hour day job might only be productive for three or four of those hours,” she explains.

“So, ideally, if employees feel the need for more time off, it would be wonderful if leaders could work with their employees to find ways to give more time, perhaps by reducing some of those non-productive hours.”

However, it has to be intentional, and collaborative, she stresses, as the natural instinct some employers may have to monitor employees more closely during the summer may backfire.

Encourage conversations about summer flexibility

MacMillan encourages leaders to build trust instead. The Dayforce study found that many employees are already managing summer flexibility themselves, under the radar. Nearly half (47 per cent) of full-time workers said they log off or leave work earlier in the summer, and 45 per cent often extend their lunches to enjoy the warm weather.

“It's really important for leaders to talk to their employees and build relationships with them and talk about this very subject,” she says, adding that the solution lies in open, collaborative planning.

“Instead of installing cameras or other methods to track productivity, I think there should be more conversations where, if I'm a leader, I say to my team member: ‘It's kind of hard to be in the office, or it's kind of hard to be working when the weather is so beautiful out there, how can we make it so that there is more time for you to enjoy this weather, and we still hit the goals that we've talked about wanting to achieve?’”

Disconnecting during summer

One common misstep HR teams make is assuming a “quick check-in” while on vacation is harmless. But even minor work interruptions have outsized effects on recovery.

According to the Dayforce survey, just 37 per cent of employees said they fully disconnect while on vacation—down from 47 per cent in 2023. Meanwhile, 16 per cent reported missing time with family and friends due to working during their break, and 19 per cent said their travel companions expect them to work while away.

“We think if we have tools that keep us connected, then we need to use those tools, otherwise we're being lax. But that's a misconception,” MacMillan says.

“Humans do need to disconnect to be effective at work and to be productive.”

She warns that staying connected while working, even for short periods of time to check an email, for example, reduces the restorative benefits of time off.

“That actually does a lot of harm, when we don't fully disconnect, because when we check our email for 20 minutes, it might take us two hours or three hours to get back to our vacation day,” says Macmillan.

“If that happens twice or three times in my vacation day, I get pulled away, I'm coming back from vacation not rested.”

Burnout risk also rises when disconnection is not respected, Macmillan adds, with compounding negative consequences for mental health the longer an employee stays connected with work,

"The longer we do that, the more we try to stay as connected as possible, the more difficult it becomes to do it, over time," she says.

Custom flex policies build trust, resilience

Rather than imposing blanket rules, MacMillan recommends tailoring summer flexibility to the specific needs of different teams and individuals.

“It's best, in a lot of cases, to be able to look at the particular workforce you have and what they need,” she says.

“It's impossible to say one particular policy is ideal for every organization and work populace, because they're all so different. I like to have policies that can be customized to fit the group that you're working with.”

MacMillan believes this approach strengthens teams, as conversations around specific needs and work styles reveal surprising insights.

“If I've got relationships with my team members, maybe I find out that some people would benefit from having long weekends all summer, rather than two weeks off,” she says.

“Different people want different things … it also helps to build the relationship between the leader and the employee, which I think is paramount.”

Making vacations work better — for everyone

Even when time off is scheduled, organizational practices can undermine its value; the Dayforce survey revealed that in some cases, employees actively hide their continued work presence.

According to the poll, 15 per cent of employees admitted to secretly working during vacation without anyone noticing, while 11 per cent said they have pretended to be sick while away in order to work undisturbed.

Macmillan admits that planned team coverage of an absent employee sounds good in theory, in reality it often doesn’t make sense.

“Sometimes that simply is not a possibility, because not all of us have an other who can do our work for us,” she says.

“You can do that by signaling to others that you're away, making sure you have that out-of-office notification on so people are not waiting for you and sending you multiple emails. The expectations tend to go down.”

It’s not only up to the employee though — Macmillan suggests HR create organizational norms that shield vacationers from pressure.

“Organizations can do a lot more around signaling why we need to protect people who are on vacation,” she says.

“Like, don't send your requests while they're on vacation and say, ‘Oh, well, as soon as you get back, maybe you could take care of this for me.’ Make that norm, that it's good to give people some space around their vacation time, both before and after.”

Vacation shouldn’t be a risk factor

Forty per cent of full-time workers said they’ve called in sick when not actually ill, just to create a long weekend or attend a social event, the survey said. Meanwhile, 34 per cent admitted to using company messaging apps to appear active while not actually working.

An equal number said they sometimes or often leave work early on Fridays without informing their manager. Instead of penalizing these behaviours, HR professionals should treat them as signals that more proactive, flexible summer policies are needed.

“Employees, if they trust their boss, and their boss trusts them, I think they can find ways with the leader to negotiate the time that we need, because I think we do need rest,” Macmillan says.

“Humans do need to disconnect to be effective at work and to be productive, and so if we try to keep people connected all the time, we'll end up with much lower output.”

Some employees feel they can’t go on vacation because their presence is too essential to the functioning of their department or team, she says. When this happens, HR teams should pay close attention as it could be a signal of a larger issue to be addressed.

“Everything's going to fall down if they're not there, and we just have to hold our breath till they get back,” MacMillan says.

“That's actually a great piece of information to find out, because nobody's indispensable … we have to look at those occasions where we think this is too hard for this person to go away, things just don't run right without them, and figure out ways to make things run right without them.”