Workation and bleisure
Two hybrid forms, two areas of law, two sets of rules
Both arise where work and private life overlap, and in many companies both are decided case by case. That holds as long as it is rare. Once it becomes more frequent, the basis is missing.
The difference that determines everything else
Bleisure is the business trip extended privately. No work is done during the extension. The questions concern payroll tax, accident insurance, travel expense rules and the documentation. Travel management is responsible.
Workation is work at another location. Work is done here. The questions concern social security and the A1 certificate, the 183-day rule, permanent establishment risk, employment law, occupational safety and IT security. HR is usually responsible.
Anyone who covers both in one set of rules writes down requirements for one case that do not apply there, and leaves open for the other case what actually matters. Even so, the line is not always clean. Four days of business travel, three days in between, then another appointment. Anyone who works on the days in between is on a workation.
Where it fails in practice
Rarely for lack of goodwill. Usually at three points.
The escalation loop. The line manager agrees, travel management says no, and then it takes a disproportionately long time to settle. Decisions made only during the trip make this worse.
The cost comparison. It is meant to show that the company incurs no extra costs, and in practice it can be influenced. Whoever requires it must also define how it is calculated and how long it is kept. Who obtains the evidence and who answers for it are two different questions.
The ban. It shifts the issue instead of solving it. Trips are extended anyway, then without rules and without the company knowing. Without recording, nobody knows how many extension days actually occur.
What I take on
A short set of rules backed by management, instead of a twenty-page policy. Large role models put mid-sized companies off.
Typical outcomes
- clauses for the travel policy, separated into bleisure and workation
- an approval path that works without an escalation loop
- a defined form of cost-neutrality check with audit-proof record-keeping
- clear responsibility between travel management, HR and line managers
- the recording without which nobody knows what is being discussed
Where I know this from
At an automotive supplier I designed a workation programme and implemented it in full. At the acquiring group the rules were later withdrawn because of tax and permanent establishment concerns. Both parts of this story belong together, and the second is the more instructive.
In 2027 my book on the subject will be published in German under the title “Workation und Bleisure. Blended Travel im Unternehmen regeln.”