Vacations are supposed to be a time for workers to unwind and unplug from the daily routine, just don’t tell that to your boss. New research has found that more and more bosses are expecting their employees to work while on vacation.

Overall, 54 percent of workers say their boss expects them to work while on vacation.

That trend has some serious consequences for workers. Namely, it is affecting the health and personal lives of employees. Workers who are not able to relax while on vacation risk suffering burnout, not to mention problems at home.

[7 Signs It's Time to Quit Your Job]

That’s because workers say family members get upset when they work on vacation. Those hurt feelings do not stop a majority of workers from doing some simple work-related tasks on vacation, however. Sixty-four percent of workers say they check email on vacation, doing so because it helps to help ease their return to work after their time off.

"Workers absolutely must have a chance to recharge for themselves, their families and their career," said Terrie Campbell, VP of strategic marketing at Ricoh Americas, the global technology company that conducted the research. "Employers ignore this need at their peril. Workers will choose desirable employers by whether they encourage you to disconnect on vacation or not. In those situations where working on vacation is unavoidable, the most sought-after employers will make mobile access easy."

The researchers found that 67 percent of workers take a vacation at some point during the year. However, additional research found that those workers know they are never far from the office. Fifty-five percent of respondents to a recent Best Western survey said that work is more likely to ruin their vacation than bad weather.

"It seems employees are actually working harder when they're on vacation than when they're in the office," Campbell said. "This means both employers and employees end up paying the price of working vacations, and it doesn't have to be this way. It shouldn't be this way. Either we manage our technology or it manages us."

Story continues

The research was based on 2,071 responses.

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow David Mielach on Twitter @D_M89. Follow us @bndarticles, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.