According to a recent willhaben survey, more than three-quarters of people living in Austria are planning a summer vacation, with European countries (67,4 percent) and Austria itself (39,2 percent) being the most popular destinations. A significant number (15,7 percent) are also spending their vacation at home. However, the survey, in which around 1.500 users participated, also highlighted the topic of accessibility while on vacation, which shows a surprisingly high level of interest.
Almost half of respondents stated that they are available to their supervisor while on vacation: 12,1 percent "at any time" and 34,6 percent "in urgent cases." Employees are even more willing to be available to colleagues, with 59,5 percent of respondents generally being available. Men and professionals in the media and advertising, legal, tax and management consulting, and construction sectors are particularly affected by this constant availability. Availability is also above average in the federal states of Vorarlberg, Lower Austria, and Upper Austria, as well as among those in management positions. Although vacation law provides for employee rest and does not require availability—except for on-call duty—14,2 percent of respondents feel tacitly pressured to be constantly available, and 3,4 percent feel explicitly pressured.
Despite the high level of availability while on vacation, most respondents doubt that this is beneficial to their careers: only 6,5 percent have experienced personal benefits, and 16,2 percent believe it improves their standing within the company. Surprisingly, around 40 percent of survey participants voluntarily go about their jobs without being contacted. This includes passively following topics (22,1 percent), reading emails (21,4 percent), replying to emails (12,1 percent), and actively completing work tasks (6,6 percent). As many as 7,6 percent of respondents report having interrupted or cut short a vacation due to work demands. A majority of 69,1 percent of Austrians would support a "right to unavailability" modeled on the Australian model, whereby employees may refuse to respond to attempts to contact them outside of working hours.
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