What do you do if your boss contacts you on vacation and asks you to check in on something for work? It seems nearly four in 10 Canadians would pull the old ‘you’re breaking up’ trick and lie about poor connectivity and reception at their destination in order to avoid doing it.

According to an Ipsos study conducted for travel insurance and assistance provider Allianz Global Assistance Canada, 39 percent of Canadians say they have lied or would consider lying about a lack of phone service or Wi-Fi as an excuse not to check in at work. Among Millennials, that number climbs to 52 percent.

Disconnecting from work while on vacation appears to be a conscious choice for Canadians according to the fourth annual Allianz Winter Vacation Confidence Index, with 65 percent saying they don’t check work emails at all while on holiday.

“The results show a potential trend of Canadians trying to disconnect more while on vacation,” says Dan Keon, vice president, Market Management, Allianz Global Assistance Canada.

“Our previous year’s survey revealed that only half of Canadians avoided checking work emails, so the 15-point increase this year is significant, particularly with women where 71 percent said they cut the digital tie to work.”

Of the 35 percent who indicated that they do check work emails while holidaying, most (16%) cited the ability to catch-up when returning as their main reason for doing so, followed by feeling guilty for ignoring work or for being the only one who can handle certain tasks (both at 9%). Only four percent reported that their bosses expected them to be online and just three percent feared for their job if they did not check in.

A similar survey conducted by Allianz in the US showed a complete swap in habits with 65 percent of Americans saying they do in fact check work emails on vacation. Millennials in the US were the most likely to check at 74 percent compared with only 47 percent of Canadians. When it comes to the little white lie about not being connected while on holiday, Americans were a little more deceptive, with 49 percent saying they would stretch the truth compared with 39 percent of Canadians.

“We also discovered that almost a quarter of Canadians said they either do not, or would not, go to a destination with limited phone service or Wi-Fi,” added Keon.

“This is probably due more to staying connected with friends and family, especially in the event of an emergency, rather than connecting with work.”

The results of the Winter Vacation Confidence Index, conducted by Ipsos, are considered accurate within +/-2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. A vacation was defined as a leisure trip of at least one week outside the respondent’s home province.