Sonder’s data indicates a significant drop in stress-related calls to its support platform during December and early January, coinciding with the Christmas break when many employees take time off. However, this trend does not extend to the summer months, despite the staggered nature of summer holidays, suggesting that workers are not effectively unwinding during their breaks.

Sonder asserts that while employees often use fixed holidays like Christmas to take PTO and manage stress – benefitting from collective downtime – employers need to enhance how their teams handle summer holidays and work transitions to prevent burnout.

Burnout, characterised by constant fatigue, detachment or cynicism towards work, and reduced effectiveness, is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a serious condition. Additionally, research by the charity Mental Health UK found that one in five working adults had to take time off in the past year due to mental health issues directly linked to stress and burnout.

To address these issues, HR leaders and wellbeing professionals should:

• Encourage staggered PTO to ensure continuous coverage and reduce stress about work handovers
• Promote the importance of genuine downtime during summer breaks, ensuring employees disconnect from work
• Implement policies that support mental health and prevent burnout, such as regular wellness checks and flexible work schedules
• Educate employees on the signs of burnout and the importance of taking regular breaks throughout the year

By taking these steps, companies can help their employees relax and recharge during the summer, reducing overall stress and improving mental health across the workforce.

Sonder has three practical tips for HR practitioners and employees alike to organise more restful time away from work, maintain better relationships with colleagues, contribute to reduced anxiety and depression and achieve better wellbeing, across the working year: 

Remind employees and colleagues to take their PTO and unplug from work - leaders need to practice what they preach. Recent research found that nearly a quarter of UK workers don’t take all their holiday entitlement

Plan time away from work, any work handovers, and ensure line managers have extra resources in place before employees take a break, especially when holiday cover is needed; HR managers should encourage more effective workload management all year round, to support better forward planning, teamwork and reduced anxiety across teams

Employers and senior executives need to demonstrate more empathetic leadership that shows they are taking their duty of care to their employees seriously; they should commit more openly to their workforce’s wellbeing and show greater openness in discussing burnout risk, which will help deliver better work-life balance, higher productivity and greater employee loyalty.

Sonder UK Vice President James Tate said: “Too many hard-working people in Britain are quietly logging in when they reach their holiday resort or readily accepting interruptions from work to their time off.

“This is because employers are failing to set clear expectations that time out in summer is untouchable – handing over workloads and covering others’ time away from work should be better handled and communicated. Helping people better manage their work/time away from work balance is a vital skill that supports colleagues and returns value to the organisation.

“These three steps can help HR practitioners ensure colleagues and employees get a truly refreshing summer holiday in the way everyone seems able to do at Christmas. These actions should also help workforces and teams better plan their holidays, workloads and more effectively support wellbeing right across the working year."