I appreciate a lot of what you say here, especially the bit about "real" programmers. >(although I have worked with people that misunderstand that vacation tim

I appreciate a lot of what you say here, especially the bit about "real" programmers. >(although I have worked with people that misunderstand that vacation time means that you don't work, and that checking email is working) I may be misunderstanding you here. Seems like checking your email (presumably for emergency situations needing attention) is work. It should not be a requirement while on vacation (like a multi-day type, not one day/half day off). And if the person taking vacation is so vital that they need to check email that should be an explicit conversation with team/leadership. It's not something we all implicitly expect a person to do.