Tapas Instead of Canteen

Workation: The pandemic and social networks seem to have made working on the beach or in the ski hut socially acceptable. Aleksandra Nagele

Here is the link to the online version (German), which, is only accessible to paid subscribers.

In the shade 26 degrees, the sea breeze and the laptop under the nose - workstations are the dream of many. Social networks are full of pictures of people who are working and on vacation at the same time. True to the motto: If working in the living room is possible, then why not from the beach? "The pandemic showed us that we can do it," Salzburg-based Regina Kainz is convinced. Her first Workation took place in 2016, at a time when most people didn't even know what it was.

From Alicante to Puglia

"After a two-week stay in Spain, my partner at the time and I decided to stay in Alicante for three months with the children." Professionally, the self-employed online marketing specialist only needed good Internet access. She ran her agency together with her partner at the time: "In the mornings I worked and he played with the kids on the beach, in the afternoons it was the other way around. The weekends belonged to us as a family." Alicante was followed by five extended stays in southern Italy: "We wanted to go to an area with little chance of earthquakes, so Puglia was chosen." Everyone in the family has grown from this experience, she says: "My children have little fear of new things, and they've learned that it doesn't take a language to communicate with others."

Workation only for the self-employed?

At the Graz-based team building specialists teamazing , workations are a regular part of the program. More than 60 percent of the employees work in a home office anyway. Collaboration in everyday work therefore take place in the remote workspace (virtual office) anyway. The step to move the physical office to an island in the gray month of November was therefore not far away.

"The wish came from the team," teamazing founder Paul Stanzenberger tells us. "Three of the colleagues organized a villa in Fuerteventura during their working hours." 15 of the 40 employees wanted to join the teamazing workation in Spain for at least a week. The deal: The costs for flight and accommodation are paid out of their own pockets. In return, everyone is free to decide how much he or she wants to work during this time. On average, they worked six to eight hours a day. There was plenty of time for surfing or swimming: "It was almost a bit like a country school week," says Stanzenberger. "We cooked together almost every day and laughed a lot, so you get to know each other in a totally different way."

More closeness and transparency

Stanzenberger got a little nervous when it came to working out the yearly budget plans. Normally that would happen behind closed doors, but this time the task was due during Workation week. "In the villa, of course, everyone was in on everything." In retrospect, though, that was something positive: "A lot of people could now understand why we were making certain decisions. We should maintain this transparency." Even an idea for a new product was born and implemented within just three days: "At home, it probably would have taken two weeks."

What he would do differently at the next Workation? "We worked from the pool, the bed and the kitchen table. When five people are hanging out in an online meeting at the same time, it can quickly get too crowded and noisy. Next time, as a company, we'd help pay for bigger accommodations."

Legally easier than thought

Other companies are already interested in the Workation experiences of the Graz-based company: "We've already had requests to organize workations for 160 people in Turkey, but actually that's not our core business." Nevertheless, Stanzenberger is happy to pass on his experience to other companies. After all, his team also invested a lot of time in answering questions about labor law. What was surprising was that many things are simpler than expected. In general, the shorter the workation and the sooner the target country is in the EU, the less problematic the project. In the case of less than four weeks, Austrian labor law still applies. However, the regulations of the destination country apply to maximum working hours, break times and minimum recovery times. Since 2021, it has been possible and advisable to take out additional insurance as part of an international assignment. Within the EU, the double taxation agreement in the destination country means that additional taxes only apply from the 184th day of workation.

"We get requests such as organizing a workation for 160 people in Turkey.", Paul Stanzenberger

One tip that Stanzenberger can give companies in any case: "Just don't cram the time with meetings. It's important to keep it casual and let people make their own day." For the winter months, part of the teamazing crew has taken off to work in the Salzburg mountains. A hut between Leogang and Hinterglemm is manned continuously there. Leonhard Hoeck and Marlene Vukmanic go on their ski tour in the morning and then work until the evening hours. Every now and then, a day remains completely free of work for a longer ascent; after all, the two have saved up this cushion of time during the summer months.