July 4 is one of those holidays that can fall on any day of the week. So if it lands on a Monday or Friday (or the weekend), yay, automatic three-day weekend for many of us.  

But if it falls nearer to mid-week, like this year’s holiday (Thursday), that can put a wrench in extended weekend plans. 

But according to a June survey by Stagwell’s Harris Poll (working with Inc magazine) almost half of Americans (48%) have a somewhat sneaky solution to the problem—just take some extra time off without reporting it to employers. Harris Poll has dubbed the practice “quiet vacationing.” 

Some employers may not care as July 4 week tends to be nearly as quiet (businesswise) as the week between Christmas and New Years. The Harris survey reported that 10% of employers close for the entire week. 

But some employers probably care a lot and strictly speaking “quiet vacationing” is quietly stealing pay you didn’t earn.  

According to the survey younger workers are more inclined to engage in quiet vacationing. And they also believe that working during July 4 week should be “taboo” in American culture. They probably believe employers should give them the entire month of August off (like many parts of Europe) although the survey didn’t get into that. 

Why not just make every holiday a Monday holiday? No unreported time off necessary and more three-day weekends throughout the year.  

Or better yet, how about a four-day work week all year round? CNN reported earlier this year on a KPMG survey that found nearly a third of employers were considering it, to boost employee retention and address burnout.  

Sounds good to me. Not holding my breath.