A Team Member Asked for a Short Break. Then a Much Longer One. Here’s What We Did.

The short break was supposed to fix it. He came to us saying he was dealing with health issues (screen fatigue), the kind that builds up quietly when you’re behind a screen for hours every day with no real separation between work and rest. We talked, we agreed on a short break, and I thought we’d handled it. He’d rest, he’d come back, we’d move on. He didn’t come back. Not then. When he reached out again, it wasn’t to confirm a return date. It was to say he needed much more time, an open-ended l