When someone comments on Ellen’s* different work-from-home background in a video call, she tells them she’s working from a different room in the house.
“If anyone really knew my house, they would know that I really only had two rooms,” the 27-year-old told The Feed.
When she wants to play it really safe, she’ll just blur the background.
Where is she really working? Sometimes Queensland, sometimes Canberra, a flight or a bus ride away from where her Victoria-based employer assumes she'll be.
Ellen has been working at a not-for-profit for two years now. It's a job she started during the pandemic when things were completely online - and she managed it then just fine.
So when her employer mandated hybrid working (a mix of office and remote working) she knew she could make it even more flexible.
Ellen is one of a fleet of workers taking secret holidays without telling their boss, called "hush trips". Workers continue to do their job but instead, they might be connected to hotel wifi and from a sunnier destination while their employer is none-the-wiser.
Some people are even relocating overseas for months at a time and managing to keep it under wraps.
Sometimes people "WFF" (work from farm) and "WFC" (work from cafe) or "WFB" (work from Bali).
On TikTok, there are tutorials on how to work around location-tracking systems set up by employers and get around geo-blocked sites.
"If you're ready to become a digital nomad without your job finding out, here's a tutorial on setting up a travel router for the first time," one creator begins.
"Does this work on a company-owned laptop?" one user replied.
A TikTok tutorial on how to become a "nomadic worker" without your employer finding out. Credit: TikTok/@bruv
"I had a co-worker who moved to Queensland and she was let go I think partially because of it. There was a requirement for her to live in Victoria for work," she said.
"That's when I sort of stopped talking about where I was working from."
But it's something she says a lot of her friends are doing. On one trip there were a few of them pushing through the work week while away.
Why take a secret trip?
Ellen said she "worked so much better" when she was holidaying in Queensland. She started a little earlier and finished a little later and took breaks during the day.
"I get that they want us to really turn off when we go on holiday and fully enjoy it. But it's really hard to do sometimes, especially for a not-for-profit where the workload is so intense," she said.
In this nomadic work style, she also feels more in control of her relationships. Trying to navigate a long-distance relationship, she said it gave her the opportunity to take lunch breaks with her boyfriend.
"I think it really matters to workplace culture to have that flexibility and acknowledgement that you've got your own life as well," she said.
Are you allowed to take a 'hush trip'?
If you're dreaming of a secret trip, there are a few things you might want to think about first.
Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, Ron McCallum, is an expert in labour law. He said for starters, worker's compensation might not cover you interstate, let alone overseas if you aren't there for work.
As for employee obligations, he said there's an implied duty in every contract of employment that you act in good faith and fidelity. Compromising security to work somewhere away from your home might be a breach of this, depending on your employer and circumstances.
With remote working entering the mainstream, more workers are taking secret holidays wile working - and they're not telling their bosses. Source: Getty / Gideon Mendel
"If those security protocols don't operate when you're in another country using their internet, you're breaching your contract of employment."
That could get you fired. But of course, it's a matter of degree.
Chamberlains Law Firm associate lawyer Antonia Tahhan, who practices in workplace law said work-from-home agreements are made to mitigate risks. Employers will try to optimise your remote work setup to look after your health and promote productivity.
Ms Tahhan said it's important to note a distinction between working from home and working remotely, with the first usually governed by a work-from-home policy. The other is typically not, despite it becoming more commonplace.
"So we've seen cases where employees who have been working from home fell down the stairs and they've been able to be covered by workers comp.
"But if you fall down the stairs in the cafe, it's gonna be up to interpretation as to whether that was the workplace."
Ultimately though, she believes there should be a level of trust between both parties.
Wasn't remote working supposed to give us flexibility?
If you're allowed to be working remotely, realistically the job is probably capable of being done anywhere, said Angela Knox, an associate professor of work and organisation at The University of Sydney.
"It can be just as productive, if not more productive," Associate Professor Knox said.
"If you've moved overseas and your boss didn't know for months you must have been maintaining a good level of performance and productivity if no one knew."
*Not her real name
