More than half of US employees don't use all their vacation time, partly due to remote...

[midian182]

In brief: Having a job that offers plenty of paid vacation days might be a great perk, but it's not much good when people don't, or feel that they can't, take them all off. According to a new survey, over half of US workers don't use all the time they're allowed.

The Pew Research Center's data (via Bloomberg) shows that only 48% of workers in the United States say they use up all their allocated vacation days. It might seem strange that someone would refuse to take paid time off that they're owed, but many say they worry about falling behind at work or feel bad about leaving an excessive workload with co-workers. Then there are those who feel they simply don't need the time off – people who really love their jobs, presumably.

Another reason is the all-too-familiar fear (and occasionally a justified one) that using up all of one's vacation time could mean losing out on a promotion. Many also believe that if a company is making layoffs, which has become a familiar sight in the tech world these days, bosses are more likely to retain staff who take fewer vacation days.

Elsewhere, 12% of those surveyed don't use up all their vacation days because their boss discourages time off.

The results make for sad reading at a time when many employees are still suffering from the burnout that started during the pandemic. The shaky global economy and the threat to jobs are also giving workers extra stress, meaning taking vacation breaks is more important than ever right now.

Ironically, working from home has also led to people taking fewer vacation days. Common reasons why employees used to take days off work, such as visiting a doctor, can now be done remotely or by leaving the home office for a short while.

"US employees have been conditioned to believe if you aren't at work, you are lazy or at risk of being replaced," said Christy Pruitt-Haynes, global head of talent and performance at workplace consultant firm NeuroLeadership Institute. "We also have been taught that to get more you have to work more, and since we all want more, we tend to prioritize active work over other things in our life."

The problem is less severe in Europe, where workers usually get more than the 15 - 20 average paid days off that US employees receive - and feel less guilty about using them.

Ultimately, the only way to guarantee US workers use at least some vacation time might be for companies to require that employees take a minimum number of days off.

Elsewhere in the survey of more than 5,900 US workers, only 51% of participants said they were satisfied with their job overall. Older workers offer the most positive assessments of their job, and about four-in-ten workers (39%) say their job or career is extremely or very important to their overall identity. And despite so many people not using their full allocation, most workers place a high priority on paid time off.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/98180-more-than-half-us-workers-dont-use-all.html

 

[SirDigby]

Me in the UK milking my company for every scrap of time off I can get

(excluding sick leave ofc, have no issues taking it, but you don't want to cry wolf for when you actually need it)

 

[Theinsanegamer]

LOL I cant imagine this.

Take every hour off you can get. Your employer will get over it.

 

[jonny888]

LOL I cant imagine this.

Take every hour off you can get. Your employer will get over it.

I'd refine that slightly to "take every hour you're owed".

Not saying this is you or what you do personally, but d*cks that take the p*ss and abuse the system(s) to take more time off than they should are (part of) the reason lots of companies feel forced to implement draconian management systems to track and monitor employees.

But if you are entitled to holiday/lieu time as part of your contract, then absolutely take it. By definition you deserve it.

 

[TheBigT42]

I know I am in the minority with my situation.

I work for a small 4 year public college. My sick and vacation time does not expire. I like to keep around 80 hours of vacation time banked for a possible emergency. Also if and when I leave, I will get paid for every hour at my current pay rate. Unused sick time will count to my retirement time.

 

[RudyBob]

My vacation time was cumulative and did not expire. I kept as much in the bank as I could, around four weeks. Ya never know when you will NEED it.

 

[dangh]

"The problem is less severe in Europe, where workers usually get more than the 15 - 20 average paid days off that US employees receive - and feel less guilty about using them."

It is illegal in EU to not get off on your holidays. In rare cases you might move a few days to a next year, but usually your company will tell you to clear it out. If you get sick on your holidays, you provide sick cert so you do not use your paid leave and can use in another term. And the minimum paid leave is 20 days (Ireland, UK, many countries in EU have more than that). Additionally, companies often offer extra paid leave days.
So, I'd say this problem don't really exist in Europe except some really shady cases.

 

[SirDigby]

"The problem is less severe in Europe, where workers usually get more than the 15 - 20 average paid days off that US employees receive - and feel less guilty about using them."

It is illegal in EU to not get off on your holidays. In rare cases you might move a few days to a next year, but usually your company will tell you to clear it out. If you get sick on your holidays, you provide sick cert so you do not use your paid leave and can use in another term. And the minimum paid leave is 20 days (Ireland, UK, many countries in EU have more than that). Additionally, companies often offer extra paid leave days.
So, I'd say this problem don't really exist in Europe except some really shady cases.

In BT (UK Telco) we got 25 days + bank/public holidays, and that would increase to 30 days at set intervals. (at 7 years I was on 27 days), we also had the option to buy up to 5 days, or carry over up to 5 days, but both couldn't total more than 5 days either.
I moved to Sky (Another UK Telco, bought by Comcast in 2016), and its 25 days + bank/public holidays over here, with a up to 5 day carryover and up to 10 days purchase.

I struggle to think if they gave me the option to buy unlimited to leave, where that sweet spot would be....

 

[Slappy McPhee]

Companies should just go unlimited PTO and after a honeymoon period it would balance out and be better for everyone. I have actually worked for companies that push for you to take your PTO each year and don't even allow you to carry over because "everyone needs a refresher from time to time", but in the end it is that they don't want to have to pay out unused PTO if you were to leave which is ridiculous since it is time that you EARNED.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

I know I am in the minority with my situation.

I work for a small 4 year public college. My sick and vacation time does not expire. I like to keep around 80 hours of vacation time banked for a possible emergency. Also if and when I leave, I will get paid for every hour at my current pay rate. Unused sick time will count to my retirement time.

I was in a similar situation at my last job and when I left over 20% was withheld for taxes by law, which was double what was needed. I was moving out of California at the time and so it caused me to not have as much money as I expected (U-Haul trucks are expensive leaving California). Obviously I got that money back during tax season, but just a heads up to anyone to anyone thinking about doing the same.

 

[Sgtm7]

"The problem is less severe in Europe, where workers usually get more than the 15 - 20 average paid days off that US employees receive - and feel less guilty about using them."

It is illegal in EU to not get off on your holidays. In rare cases you might move a few days to a next year, but usually your company will tell you to clear it out. If you get sick on your holidays, you provide sick cert so you do not use your paid leave and can use in another term. And the minimum paid leave is 20 days (Ireland, UK, many countries in EU have more than that). Additionally, companies often offer extra paid leave days.
So, I'd say this problem don't really exist in Europe except some really shady cases.

I got 30 days leave for most jobs I had in the USA. I generally didn't use all my days, because I just didn't need them. In my first full time job, we got all 12 national holidays throughout the year. I have never liked long holidays, so that was really enough for me, and within my first 3 years of working I had 60 days saved up. I would just make sure I didn't have a "use or lose" situation. The max amount of leave we could have saved up was 60 days. If you had more than 60 days at the beginning of the year, you would lose the days over 60. So I always just took a few days here and there to insure I didn't go over sixty. I didn't start taking longer vacations until I started working overseas. Even then, I don't like long vacations, and typically never take more than 5 days at a time.

 

[Sgtm7]

Companies should just go unlimited PTO and after a honeymoon period it would balance out and be better for everyone. I have actually worked for companies that push for you to take your PTO each year and don't even allow you to carry over because "everyone needs a refresher from time to time", but in the end it is that they don't want to have to pay out unused PTO if you were to leave which is ridiculous since it is time that you EARNED.

Unlimited PTO? I assume you mean unlimited carry over of PTO? I could get on board with that. However, if you actually meant an unlimited amount of PTO days, that is another thing. It could never really be "unlimited". Anyone that took more than management thought was okay, would be looked at differently. Then you are leaving it up to the employee to decide what is acceptable.

 

[Avro Arrow]

It seems pervasive in US culture that taking your agreed upon vacation time is somehow "wrong". Is it any wonder that the population's overall mental health is in decline?

If my boss took a negative view of me using my allocated vacation days, he'd find himself up the creek without me in VERY short order. Of course, that has never been a problem. In fact, he has occasionally had to remind me that I had vacation days to use up. I don't know why, but Canadians seem to be a lot more sane about using our vacation like we're supposed to. Having said that, the European work-life balance is far superior to what we have anywhere in North America.

Work to live, don't live to work.

 

[Sovietrebel]

What a toxic working culture is the american one.

 

[Avro Arrow]

What a toxic working culture is the american one.

Yep. The average American now works more hours per year than the average Japanese. I remember when such a thing was unthinkable.

 

[scavengerspc]

You need to get away? Go ahead and have fun! Just tell me how long you will be gone. See ya when you get back!

My personal thoughts.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

IYep. The average American now works more hours per year than the average Japanese. I remember when such a thing was unthinkable.

It's been like that for decades. American working values helped win WW2.

 

[CrisisDog]

I've been denied PTO on several occasions, to the point where we were actually working 80 hour weeks and through weekends to keep up with "issues" at our company. Management laughed it off, and coworkers started cussing in meetings about how bad it was. The only redeeming factor is HR stepped in and we got paid out our unused PTO time, which is not common.

 

[scavengerspc]

It's been like that for decades. American working values helped win WW2.

What's messed up is folks from other countries use that like we should be unhappy about it, or as an attempt to ridicule.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

What's messed up is folks from other countries use that like we should be unhappy about it, or as an attempt to ridicule.

That's usually because those posters who knock it are from socialist countries such as the EU, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc ..

 

[WhoCaresAnymore]

I work from home. Small company, but I probably work on avg 4-6 hours a day and get everything done. I don’t really need “official” time off because I have ample personal time to keep fresh and get my personal stuff done, during what would be normal work hours. We have a great team and I love working with the people. I love what I do most of the time so even my job at times just feels fun.

 

[BakaRed77]

I was like this. I had a ton of hours saved up and my employer decided to switch to this new system where you can just take time off as you need and there are no hours. Sounds great but what about all my hours I saved? Those just got deleted. So I spent years not taking time off and they didn't pay that out just deleted it. Needless to say I take more time off now.

 

[wiyosaya]

It's been like that for decades. American working values helped win WW2.

Maybe so, but I would expect that this all started back in the late 1800's to early 1900's when there were very few, if any, labor laws to protect US workers from employers literally working them to death.

That's usually because those posters who knock it are from socialist countries such as the EU, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc ..

Honestly, the knee-jerk reaction to bring socialism into the conversation, IMO, overlooks the fact that workers in many professions do better when they have time off. Personally, if I am working on a difficult problem, I find that I come to a solution quicker when I take a break from it and come back to it later. In fact, science supports doing so.

Personally, I'm not working myself to death for any employer, and if I were working for an employer that restrained my vacation time at my expense, I'd find another job. I have health issues that require I take good care of myself, not to mention that I would burn out completely if I never took vacation.

What's messed up is folks from other countries use that like we should be unhappy about it, or as an attempt to ridicule.

To an extent, I agree; however, I'm betting that their reactions are more a reflection on themselves than on the truth of the conditions in the US. That kind of reaction is typical when those replying think they know it all. I'm willing to bet that none of them have any true knowledge of the state of the US labor force.

Companies should just go unlimited PTO and after a honeymoon period it would balance out and be better for everyone.

In the US, some companies are offering "Unlimited PTO". In my opinion, that is a myth like the goose that laid the golden egg and is held out by the companies that offer it as the proverbial carrot on the stick that they dangle in front of you and will never let you get it.

In one such company I am aware of (a defense contractor), they offer unlimited PTO. What it amounts to is that you get four weeks of PTO unquestioningly. However, if you want more than that, it must be approved by your manager, and if its not approved, you cannot take it.

Furthermore, I am willing to bet that there are many people out there that would take advantage of unlimited PTO. Think of it. People would make best efforts to work a job that has unlimited PTO; however, the reality of it, at least as I see it, is that it is mythical. You could never work at any company where you never put in any time actually working and were perpetually, which, to me, is what Unlimited implies, on vacation. You would be a negative on the company's balance sheet, and since the company is in business to make money, they would fire you.

 

[PanfiloTexas]

I know I am in the minority with my situation.

I work for a small 4 year public college. My sick and vacation time does not expire. I like to keep around 80 hours of vacation time banked for a possible emergency. Also if and when I leave, I will get paid for every hour at my current pay rate. Unused sick time will count to my retirement time.

same boat as you, work for a public college we can bank 450 hours, but lose 50 each year if we are at that amount. We get so much time off already its hard to use all your vacation. 2 weeks for christmas, 1 week for spring break, 1 week for thanksgiving (all paid) and then during the summer we move to 4 day work week. Not to mention every other holiday. the only downside is that I left an OG job for here and my pay was reduced by 30%. I have been here long enough that I earn 4 weeks of vacation a year, and we can use PT time from our sick time. which we earn 2.5 sick days a month. the Government takes care of its employees at the expense of taxpayers. its really crappy.

 

[TheBigT42]

same boat as you, work for a public college we can bank 450 hours, but lose 50 each year if we are at that amount. We get so much time off already its hard to use all your vacation. 2 weeks for christmas, 1 week for spring break, 1 week for thanksgiving (all paid) and then during the summer we move to 4 day work week. Not to mention every other holiday. the only downside is that I left an OG job for here and my pay was reduced by 30%. I have been here long enough that I earn 4 weeks of vacation a year, and we can use PT time from our sick time. which we earn 2.5 sick days a month. the Government takes care of its employees at the expense of taxpayers. its really crappy.

I think the extra vacation time offsets the lower pay. I feel that it is worth it....My stress level is SOOOOO much lower now!

The amount of Vacation time we can bank increases the longer we are employed. We don't "lose" the excess .... it is converted into sick time. Unused sick time can then be applied to our retirement time.