Feet In Sand Wins Employee Mini Vacation
View slideshow of 170 vacation photos employees sent with work-life balance stories
Adem Gusa looked out at the sun, surf and nearly barren beach. He felt the warm tropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico lapping at his feet.
Read More"I'll bet this would make for a decent photo," he told his wife, Asiya, who lounged next to him.
Gusa reached in his beach bag, pulled out his iPhone and snapped an iconic photo of their feet on the beach of Cancun, Mexico - the winning entry in Working@Duke's vacation photo campaign. In return for his winning snapshot, Gusa will receive a free mini-vacation: one night at the Washington Duke Inn and dinner and breakfast for two.
"This is awesome," Gusa said this week. "With two young children, we welcome any opportunity to unwind, relax and reconnect."
In May, Duke faculty and staff were invited to submit their best vacation photo and share how Duke's paid time off benefit helps them recharge. Whether traveling abroad or within our 50 states, they were asked to show us how time off helped renew work-life balance.
In all, 170 employees submitted snapshots of invigorating breaks from as far away as Nepal and Ireland and as close as the North Carolina mountains and beaches.
"Vacations are an opportunity to make a clear distinction between work and not-work and take a well deserved break," said Lois Ann Green, assistant vice president of Human Resources and Benefits at Duke. "We encourage employees to use their time off because it is beneficial to the employee and they are able to return to work refreshed."
Courtney Packard Orning, a public relations specialist at the Social Science Research Institute, submitted a photo of her two children playing on the beach at Topsail Island, N.C. in 2011.
"Being able to watch my kids share such special moments together was indescribable," she said. "Now I have this picture in my office and when things get crazy I look at it and remember how relaxed I was and how rejuvenated I felt when I returned to work."
SEE all vacation photos on Flickr. (Please note, turn photo captions on/off by clicking "show info" at the top right of the screen. Photos are displayed in alphabetical order by first name).