What is a CBA day?

Welcome to the latest working trend: not working because you can’t be bothered. Here, we’re not only going to explain what a CBA day is – it stands for Can’t Be Arsed – but how it ties into siesta lunches and employees’ desire for a true work-life balance.

CBA days hit the news after MTD Training pulled together a list of different workplace trends, which themselves seem to be trending — first it was “quiet quitting“, then it was “lazy girl jobs“, and so on. 

The training organisation listed ideas such as holding meetings outside to take advantage of the benefits of nature, career lattices (moving sideways for experience, etc) versus career ladders, and truly wild ideas like in-office childcare. Perhaps the most intriguing new workplace trend is CBA days — to repeat, “can’t be arsed”. 

Previously, this was known as “pulling a sickie”, pretending to be sick in order to avoid having to go to work. According to a LinkedIn survey, a third of people admit to “pulling a sickie” to avoid work despite being technically well, a proportion that feels lower than is probably the reality.

Officially CBA

But MTD suggests that CBA days could soon be backed by management, pointing to “reset days” when employees can prioritise focused work or forward planning but act as though they’re out of the office by not taking part in meetings and other distractions. In other words, it’s not slacking, it’s just logging out of Slack.

A CBA day would be similar in that it was designed to let employees rest and return to work happy and productive.

“Managers should consider that on some days employees don’t have the energy or willingness to do productive work on a given day,” wrote Sean McPheat, Managing Director of MTD Training.

“CBA (can’t be arsed) sick days could be the next big trend, as employers expand their health and wellbeing policies. It can also work well for managers looking to increase productivity of their staff and lean into a limited amount of ‘write-off’ days where that just isn’t likely.”

The name itself may be dooming this workplace trend — good luck pitching CBA days to the higher-ups — but the idea of mental health breaks is sound. Indeed, one company in China is offering staff ten days of “sad leave” a year for when they don’t feel happy enough to work.

That said, it seems likely that tapping out of work because you don’t feel up for it will continue to be led by employees calling in with vague yet menacing illnesses that last a single day rather than become official policy.

Sneaky holidays

On a similar front, MTB Training also predicted the rise of “quiet vacationing” or “hush trips”, which is jetting off to work remotely from a holiday destination without telling the office — just make sure to blur your Zoom background before checking in at the morning meeting.

“In some cases, employees are blending downtime into their workday, as seen in the recent ‘bare minimum Mondays’ trend of late,” McPheat said. “These behaviours bring trust into question, and can feed into ‘productivity paranoia’.”

That said, he notes that research suggests fewer than 40% of Brits even make use of their entire annual leave allowance — perhaps there would be fewer CBA days if people felt encouraged and supported in taking their holidays, after all.

Either way, he suggests companies that offer remote or flexible working also offer WFA — work from anywhere — policies. This allows staff to play at being a digital nomad, working from a holiday destination for a set period of time to allow them to travel more easily or stay for longer, though hopefully to places on a similar time zone as the head office to keep arranging meetings simple.

Why just summer for siestas?

Summer is drawing to a close in the northern hemisphere. Did your workplace productivity slow at lunch or perhaps in the early afternoon?

McPheat suggests that siestas could become standard in the UK. “In many cultures around the world, siestas (a short early afternoon nap, commonly taken after lunch) are commonplace,” he said.

“Taking inspiration from the likes of Spain, we predict more UK businesses will offer this perk to their employees. Whilst easiest for those who work from home (WFH), businesses at the forefront of this movement are already installing ‘sleep pods’ at the office.”

Culturally speaking, it seems incredibly unlikely that Brits will choose to take a nap in an office sleep pod, though plenty already stretch out at lunch on the local bit of green space in the sun — when it happens. But the rise of working from home makes a quick cat nap incredibly likely; in the summer, it’s because climate change has sparked Spain-like temperatures, while in the winter it’s because the dreary weather means we need to warm up with a bit of hygge-style cozy time.

Regardless of excuses, a mid-day nap should actually be a productivity boost: NASA research found short naps boosted alertness by half and performance by a third.

In short, the latest workplace trends focus on not working — but it’s probably good for business to let your employees have a nap or a last-minute day off if they need one that badly.

Related stories:

• What is rust-out – and how to help your staff avoid it
• What’s behind TikTok’s work trends? Burnout and low pay
• How the world of work will look in 2030