I telecommute full time for my job as a copy editor for a
large business Web site. I plan to spend a month in the
Caribbean. Is it ethical to do this without running it by my
supervisor? My online presence will remain the same; only my
physical location will change. -- Name Withheld
If your duties are truly unmoored to place -- you never drop
by the office to swipe supplies (I mean, consult with colleagues
face to face) -- then pack your laptop and sunscreen and head
south. Your supervisor has an interest in how, not where, you do
the job. Unless you anticipate a decline in the quality of your
work -- Antillean computer problems, cell phone vagaries,
cataracts and hurricanos that spout until they drench your
steeples and drown the cocks, sulfurous and thought-executing
fires, oak-cleaving thunderbolts or simply the Siren song of the
wi-fi-less beach -- I don't see why this is any of your
supervisor's business. But you might want to mention it: to give
information, not to get permission.
(Readers can direct their questions and comments by e-mail to
ethicist@nytimes.com. This column originates in
The New York Times Magazine.)
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