Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Work Vacations – Do you take yours?
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August 19, 2014 at 4:18 pm #612394
wakefloodParticipantJust read a short article on Americans and taking their vacation time at work. We don’t do it and it has consequences.
One of the primary reasons we give:
“More than 20 percent of workers said one of the main reasons they aren’t taking all of their vacation days is because they don’t want to appear replaceable.”
“Fundamentally what’s going on there is fear,†said Michael Leiter, a psychology professor at Acadia University who studies people’s relationship with their work, but wasn’t involved with the new research. “People are afraid if they’re not present and they’re not continually churning stuff out that bad things are going to happen.â€
I’ll posit that this is just another symptom of a general lack of security in most any job. And this sea change from our parent’s generation, this breaking of the social contract was done with malice of forethought.
What’s to be done? How do we get back to a place where people feel like taking some time off is a good thing for everyone?
I think it has to start with senior management. They have to make it ok. They have to encourage it and indeed, reward it (not monetarily but by ensuring no loss of status for those who take what they earn).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/19/americans-vacation-days_n_5682576.html
Q: Is this issue overstated?
Q: If not, are the consequences real?
Q: If yes, how do we address it?
August 19, 2014 at 5:07 pm #812293
skeeterParticipantWakeflood, good topic. I’m not part of the 20% that worries about being replaceable. I’m aware that I am replaceable, but after 16 years with my employer I am somewhat confident that my employer cannot find a person who would/could do my job better than me for less money. My employer takes a long-term view toward this sort of thing and it creates a healthy environment. For that I am thankful.
I do, however, often struggle to get my work done. I sometimes don’t use all my vacation leave because my workload is pretty significant. Some years I say to myself it’s not worth working late and/or weekends just so I can spend a few days on “vacation.†I’d rather forfeit a few vacation days and have my evenings/weekends with my family. Does that make sense?
It often depends on staffing. If no one in my group quits or gets sick or has a baby then we can all get our work done and everyone gets their vacation. If something does cause one or more employees to lose time at work then we have to scramble to cover the workload. So some years are better than others. Even in a challenging year, though, I always get at least two weeks of vacation.
August 19, 2014 at 5:16 pm #812294
JoBParticipantwake..
i don’t think the argument is overstated..
hubby who has worked mostly 60+ hours a week at an extremely stressful job for the last 40+ years isn’t inclined to take more than a day or two away from work at a time for those very reasons.
i booked us a longer vacation this year because at 60 the man needs a break.
of course, i booked it during the Christmas holidays so that he wouldn’t feel so bad about losing what is generally pretty unproductive time of year but he will still be taking more than a couple of weeks off.
skeeter…
we shouldn’t have to rely on the kindness of our employers for taking benefits that are part of our compensation package..
i think that is the part of the equation that is too often overlooked… those vacation days aren’t a gift.. they are part of your pay.
August 19, 2014 at 5:32 pm #812295
trickycooljParticipantI definitely use my vacation time but feel incredibly guilty if it exceeds one week. I have family in Germany and it’s so rare I get to see them because with a day to fly there and a day to fly home plus a 9 hour time difference I just can’t visit for less than 10 days.
On another note, a friend just got jury duty and it was unpaid leave at his office! He had to use 5 of his 8 days of vacation in order to get paid. He works in accounting at the Hq of a small-ish local company. I would expect that kind of policy for part-time or retail/restaurant work but I’m still mad he got burned on vacation time to do jury duty and it wasn’t even my company/vacation.
August 19, 2014 at 5:40 pm #812296
JoBParticipantperhaps unions were a little more relevant than people thought ;->
August 19, 2014 at 5:43 pm #812297
wakefloodParticipantI’ll offer that I’m generally really thoughtful about when I take my time off. I try to use normal downtimes to extend weekends and/or limit the impacts on others. I feel that checking around with coworkers tends to limit extenuating circumstances of my absence, in addition to building up some good will.
BUT since I’ve only taken one more than two week vacation in 30 career working years and maybe take a full week break every other year or so…I’m really pretty pathetic. And most of that is on me.
I work with folks in the UK and other non-US countries fairly frequently, and I have to admit, most of them think we’re crazy.
August 19, 2014 at 5:52 pm #812298
wakefloodParticipantAnd in a correlated thought to JoB’s note, it’s been quite beneficial for companies to combine sick leave and vacation into the Personal Time Off (PTO) category.
In exchange for giving the employee “flexibility” and ditching the requirement for the concept of giving an excuse for sick leave – the companies get to limit their accrued exposure (read save big $), as this PTO thing usually came with tighter Max Accruals of PTO before use it or lose it kicked in.
So, when viewed on the whole, it was a blowout win for companies and it didn’t even register enough for a national discussion on the potential impacts. It just happened.
And yet, here we sit, scared to take even what we earned. Funny how this stuff works, huh?
August 19, 2014 at 6:03 pm #812299
minionMemberYes, but not all of it. Although I’m saving a lot up for a big trip. In general I do use it.
August 19, 2014 at 6:51 pm #812300
trickycooljParticipantI think in California there’s a law that says PTO/PA/Sick Leave has to be paid out if you hit a cap or a “use it or lose it” situation. My mom’s company is headquartered in CA so they have a blanket policy across the company that they can cash out PA. I know my mom has used her cash out option many times for things like a big home project or new car since she rarely ever needs sick time.
I on the other hand just keep banking sick time and losing half each year. We have a liberal policy of it’s use, like appointments and caring for sick family (with non specific definition of family, I once used it to pick up a close college friend from surgery with no family in the area)but eventually this bank of sick time is going to grow and grow and what good does it do me? Unless I have some serious injury (which SSD would kick in) it’s like having money in the bank I can’t use.
August 19, 2014 at 6:59 pm #812301
lazybeardParticipantI take a “big” (int’l) vacation about every two years, normally for 2 weeks, while the in-between years I’ll take 1 week off (domestic).
My employer doesn’t allow/permit me to work overseas, which is something I look forward to on my “big” vacations while I’ll check in on my domestic trips, but maybe once every few days or unless they need me. All in the mean-time I’ll sprinkle in a day off to bookend a weekend maybe once or twice a year.
In the end, I know I’m replaceable. Almost two years ago I took off the entire month of December for vacation but I gave my boss 11 months notice and I provided ample training leading up to my departure. I didn’t provide the “keys to the kingdom” to any-one person I was training, but enough to get the job done.
August 19, 2014 at 9:45 pm #812302
anonymeParticipantYou are the lucky ones. I am one of millions who have no benefits of any kind. No sick pay, no vacations, no health care. Work ’til you die, because you’ll never be able to retire, much less take a vacation…
August 19, 2014 at 10:29 pm #812303
JoBParticipantall the more reason to have federal sick leave and vacation leave laws firmly in place
August 19, 2014 at 10:55 pm #812304
seaopgalParticipantAnd all the more reason to take vacation if you have it … think of all the ways your vacation money is spent, and that many of those who benefit from it don’t have the same privilege: pet sitters, servers, hotel maids, taxi drivers, bell hops, bus boys, tour guides, clerks, cooks, bartenders, et al.
I always use mine — in a timely manner — and I’m generally suspicious of people who don’t. I know some people really just like to work, and others use work to avoid issues in their lives (e.g., family obligations, loneliness). But not going on your entitled vacation out of fear of losing your job seems no way to live … and it doesn’t necessarily work. I’ve been in several lay-off situations where the employees who lived for their job were the first to be let go. People may admire martyrs, but they don’t necessarily love or reward them.
August 19, 2014 at 11:36 pm #812305
LindseyParticipantI’m lucky in that my employer recognizes the benefits of employees taking vacations. To make sure we all have the ability to really take a vacation, we get $1000 each in “use it or lose it” money that they call our Fantasy Travel fund. It reimburses us for hotel and airfare. I’m using a portion to attend a funeral this weekend. Without that money, I’m not sure I would be able to go.
August 20, 2014 at 2:17 am #812306
trickycooljParticipantWow that’s a cool benefit! That would make it so much easier to visit my family overseas since the airfare in coach offseason has crept up to the $1000 range. It takes so long to build up frequent flier miles even with the Alaska Air credit card.
August 20, 2014 at 2:40 am #812307
SueParticipantI have never understood when I hear someone say they don’t take all their vacation; the only way I’m not taking everything owed to me would be because I was dead. I’m very grateful to get 5 weeks a year in vacation and have no guilt in taking it as I need/want to.
August 20, 2014 at 2:51 am #812308
Seattle TrashMemberI don’t have any vacation benefits, sick days, paid days off, etc., as I work for myself and for a part-time employee, together making up full time hours. I take about 4+ weeks off a year, and have so for the past 3-4 years. Both this year and last year it amounted to about 5 weeks off each year.
As I live debt-free (save the mortgage), it does take extra planning with saving for the lost income as well as the travel expenses. I refuse to respond to work emails or phone calls while I’m on vacation (and some personal ones as well). Beyond saving lives, which is not my trade, nothing work-related is that important to respond to while I’m off the clock, vacation or weekend.
August 20, 2014 at 2:58 am #812309
JoBParticipantAugust 20, 2014 at 4:18 pm #812310
wakefloodParticipantQuote from a recent study on the topic: “…even though a whopping 95 percent of senior business leaders say they know the value of taking time off, 67 percent of employees say their company is either silent about taking vacation, sends mixed signals about it or even actively discourages it.”
As Seop, Sue and others have noted, we all need to just do it more often than we do now. JoB’s hubby situation notwithstanding, of course. If you can, you should. And you shouldn’t feel bad about it. Maybe if enough of us do it, we’ll help change the cultures of the companies who are part of the issue – and there’s lots of ’em, apparently.
I think I’ll take Friday off! ;-)
August 20, 2014 at 4:27 pm #812311
JoBParticipantwakeflood..
in the interests of fairness..
the Vacation policies of hubby’s employer Google are more than liberal.
when i speak of his reluctance to take extended vacations.. i speak of the last couple of decades and 5 employers…
in my opinion the reluctance to take vacations is tied to the sharp increase in worker productivity
… Employers expect more which after a while becomes the new base from which they can now expect more..
and employees react to the stress of increased workloads by taking less and less time off… because that is the only way they can deliver on increased expectations.
ultimately making themselves less productive.
it’s a sad cycle.
August 20, 2014 at 5:13 pm #812312
sam-cParticipantI’ve been one of those who does not use vacation time. I was saving it/ banking it so I could take paid maternity leave instead of unpaid maternity leave. (also if it were unpaid maternity leave, I would have to pay for all the benefits the health insurance during the time I was off. about $1200 a month for our family- when working full time, I pay $400 a month.)
now that I am done with maternity leaves I would like to take a vacation, but it’s hard to feel ‘safe’ doing it when your boss snarkily refers to it as ‘goofing off’
I would love to use time off to visit family elsewhere in the county for Christmas, but plane tickets at that time of year are out of my price budget.
August 20, 2014 at 7:00 pm #812313
wakefloodParticipantJoB, I totally agree about the “what have you done for me lately”, functioning paradigm. This is a bit of a tangent to the topic but it’s related on some level.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that people get infinite credit for past effort, nor am I suggesting that everybody’s giving equal 110% effort all the time BUT…
…what I have noticed in many companies that, as JoB suggests is that evaluations of people is frequently geared to make people feel that being a consistent, solid/very good performer actually means you’re under-performing. As if you can always one up yourself. This undoubtedly is a trickle down from Wall St.’s insistence that every quarter’s financial performance be an improvement from the last.
My point being, it’s unsustainable and often takes the wind out of quality people’s sails over time.
It’s one thing to aim for improving areas of performance, it’s another to assume that last quarter’s ceiling is now the floor – as JoB said.
Another important take away I had from this article is a reinforcement that I’m not alone in my workstyle. I push really hard and produce good quality work and then I take my foot off the mental throttle for a bit, let my subconscious work on some stuff in the background and then get back at it. Many work environments don’t seem to get that people work this way. They can’t wait for true inspiration or for people to re-energize.
As technology advances, many of us will be need to be functioning at peak levels 24/7, just to make the cost/benefit equation still favor keeping people like me (and you, perhaps?) on the payroll versus a new piece of hardware/software. Gulp…
August 20, 2014 at 7:34 pm #812314
datamuseParticipantI do take mine. I try to schedule it so it’s not inconveniencing others; I’m a librarian at a university so, with one exception, I’ve never taken extended time off during the academic year–while I don’t teach courses, that’s usually the busiest time for scheduled stuff like workshops for students, meetings with faculty (who are often away during the summer), and so forth. We also all try to take vacations that don’t overlap with each other because our staff is really small; once we’re down more than two people, service quality starts to suffer. But even with all that it’s pretty easy to find the time.
I get the fear of being replaceable. But the thing is, if you spend too much time working you actually get less productive. 35-40 hours is about optimal; those crazy 60-hour weeks in my former industry (online retail) weren’t yielding any more than if we’d all worked sane hours. I wish employers really understood that and acted accordingly rather than paying it lip service. I’m fortunate to work somewhere that does.
August 20, 2014 at 7:56 pm #812315
seaopgalParticipantWell, wakeflood, since none of us is capable of working at peak capacity 24/7, we will have to take our chances that being human and alive brings something to the table that another piece of hard/firm/software doesn’t. If it doesn’t at our current occupation, then we need to seek out, promote, or create other more humane endeavors.
August 20, 2014 at 8:21 pm #812316
wakefloodParticipantYup, seaopgal, we do need to figure out what we wetwares can offer the world when we’re not required in any particular cost/benefit equation.
Apparently, one of the richest men in the world thinks we should all be working 3 day weeks…
“Carlos Slim, the 74-year-old Mexican communications titan, recently told a business conference in Paraguay that we should only work three days a week, the Financial Times reported.
‘Having four days [off] would be very important to generate new entertainment activities and other ways of being occupied,’ Slim said, according to the FT.”
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