Can I work remotely from the US whilst on holiday?!

[Mstxxx]

I have taken two weeks annual leave and I am due to fly out in two weeks. I am going on holiday to the US and ny employer has said they will only approve it if I can work a few hours whilst I’m there. I’m a UK citizen and will be on an ESTA whilst in the US.

They have sent me their international working policy which states the US is on their list of countries I can remote work from but I know America can be quite hot on these things and I don’t want to risk getting in trouble for any reason either from the US or my company. If it makes any difference, the company I work for is also registered in the US and has offices there.

My plan is just to work approx 3 days and only 5 hours a time whilst in my hotel on my laptop.

Do I need another visa for this and is this allowed/ok whilst just visiting on an ESTA visa?! I realise i may be panicking over nothing but best to check. Thanks in advance!

I wouldn't give it a second thought, who would know

The restriction is that legally you can’t work for an American company while there on holiday.

Can you speak to HR about the fact you are being forced to work on your paid annual leave time. That should be against company policy.
Annual leave is annual leave. either that or rearrange your trip so you're not working.

Yes, fine for that duration. but why on earth are your company asking you to work during A/L? I hope you're only taking A/L for the times you're not working.

This was my thought.
If its annual leave, you are not meant to be working. If they want you to work, but not in the office, that's remote work, not leave.
If they won't approve leave unless you agree to work that's threatening behaviour (in terms of employment) and contravenes policy.

"My plan is just to work approx 3 days and only 5 hours a time whilst in my hotel on my laptop."

So you will be working for three days out of your ten days of holiday (two weeks).

In that case, if you agree to do this for them, then you alter your holiday so that you are only taking seven days holiday instead of ten and are working remotely for three days.

Do not let them bully you into working on days that are booked as holiday. If you go ahead with this plan then you are only taking seven days holiday and your records need to be updated to show that.

With regard to working while in the USA, yes, as others have pointed out it is technically against the terms of the ESTA but, in reality, it is very unlikely indeed to come to the attention of US Customs & Border Protection.

Of course you can! Imagine you’re on a.business trip. You can’t be employed in the US but in my business people are constantly travelling in the US and working on the road.

It is fine. I travel to the US several times a year to visit our offices there and always on an ESTA.

I did. I went to the USA for six weeks, took my work laptop so I could work the days my son was working and on his days off we went out on trips. I took annual leave for the days I didn’t work. My manager was fully behind me doing this following an aborted trip due to Covid lockdown. Because I wasn’t working for an American company I just travelled on an ESTA.

You need to ensure that when you enter and they ask you the purpose of your travel, that you only say “vacation”.

Will you get those hours back as leave or are you donating your annual leave to work1?! That would be my main concern. Visa/ESTA will be fine.

You're not working for or being paid by an American employer, so it's not going to be a problem.

However, if you're doing 15 hours of work while on holiday, your employer needs to give you back two full days of your annual leave, or reimburse you financially. Otherwise you've literally just worked for two full days (or three part-time days) for free. That's not OK.

Just to be clear: the US will not allow you to work there without a visa, even if you are working for a UK firm. No work, regardless of where the company is registered, or where the person’s home base is, is allowed. A UK citizen doing UK work on US soil is not allowed. If you’re not claiming this on your Esta because it’s for vacation purposes, you will need to keep the fact that you are dialling in for 15 hours to yourself when you go through immigration (or declare it and get a work permit).

"Can you work remotely on an ESTA?

No, you cannot work on an ESTA. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is an automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The VWP allows citizens or eligible nationals of certain countries to travel to the US for tourism, business, or transit purposes for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. However, it does not allow visitors to work in the US.

If you want to work in the US, you need to obtain a work visa or an employment authorization document (EAD). A work visa is issued by the US embassy or consulate in your home country and allows you to work legally in the US for a specific employer and period of time. An EAD, on the other hand, is issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and allows you to work legally in any job in the US for a specific period of time.

It’s important to note that working without proper authorization in the US can have serious consequences, including deportation and being barred from entering the country again. So if you’re planning on working in US with ESTA, make sure you obtain the necessary documentation beforehand."

"You are prohibited from performing actual work in the United States regardless of where your employer is headquartered.

You cannot engage in productive work for a foreign employer, even if the task is unpaid."

https://www.esta.us/news/can-i-remotely-work-on-an-esta/

Thousands of people take a work laptop on holiday and answer emails, do zoom meetings etc from time to time all over the world and don’t give visa requirements a second thought. Who would know?

But you can use an esta to travel to the US on business, as I have done many times and as the link states.

The rules and US laws about this are kind of irrelevant because, obviously, there's no way they would know.

Unless OP announces it on arrival when they ask why she’s there. Her answer should be “vacation”.

Yes, but she’s not travelling for business. She’s on a holiday, and will be working an equivalent of 2 days, which she can either declare, or keep to herself if she doesn’t want to complicate the immigration process.

You can use an ESTA for business travel if you’re doing things like attending meetings at the US branch of your company. You can travel on your ESTA, declare you’re on vacation because you are, and still take the odd conference call or read her work emails, it’s a perfectly normal thing to do. I think your issue is more with your company’s HR policies- if you’ve left it late to put in your holiday request and they need you to work some of it then you should get the days back to take another time.

The linked text states

"Work Remotely on an ESTA and employment in the US
If you are traveling to the United States on an ESTA and plan to work remotely during your stay, it’s important to understand the restrictions that apply. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), ESTA holders are not permitted to engage in any employment while in the United States.
However, there are some exceptions. If you are employed by a company outside of the United States and will be performing work for that company while visiting the U.S., you may be able to do so without violating ESTA regulations. Additionally, if you are attending business meetings or conferences during your stay but will not receive any payment for your participation, this is generally allowed under ESTA rules."

It is not as clear as it should be ("may") but reflects reality of what thousands of people travelling on estas do every day. Realistically people travelling for a business meeting are going to reply to emails or do work between meetings and people on holiday are going to answer emails or look at documents as that reflects the reality of modern work life.

You can take a genuine business trip/perform business trip activities whilst on an ESTA, but you cannot perform your regular role.

In reality, you/the Company are highly unlikely to be caught, but I'd ask why the Company is asking you to perform activities not permissible on the ESTA and therefore not compliant with US immigration.

Thanks everyone - this is helpful! I’m having

I will be cancelling my annual leave for the hours they want me to work but they haven’t mentioned anything about doing that (yet anyway!) but I’ll be making sure to do so. I am peeved they’re asking me to do this at all as I find it unnecessary given someone’s just had a month off and someone else is currently on two weeks off and haven’t been asked the same thing. They’re saying it’s because we’re busy however my leave request starts on the last day of a project and as i mentioned, other people in our small team are currently on the same or longer periods of leave and will all be back by the time I go so I’m not really happy with it at all! I’ll have a look into all the links provided etc.