A study shows that employees’ wellness, morale, performance and productivity are all improved when they take their paid vacation time. Though many employees shy away from taking days off for fear of falling behind, employers should push their staff to use their vacation time, as it benefits both employees and the company, new research shows.
Employees who started taking more vacation time would experience higher levels of job satisfaction, and would be more productive. Additionally, employees would perform better, and would be more engaged if they took more time off.
It is important for managers and company leaders to see the value in employees taking a vacation. They should also encourage their people to use their leave, ‘unplug’ if possible and take a break from the work, even if it’s just a day or two every few months.
Despite the benefits that come from taking time off, employees have an average of three or more unused vacation days each year. Usually, the features of employers’ vacation plans and the ability to roll over time off determined whether employees took all their vacation time. Many employees seem to want to reserve vacation time, saving it for the next year, if they are able to roll over time from year to year.
The research shows that employees are more likely to use all of their earned vacation time when their company doesn’t offer a rollover option. More than three-quarters of organizations that do not offer rollover plans report that between 80 and 100 percent of employees use all of their vacation days each year, while just 31 percent of organizations that allow employees to carry over vacation days to the next year report the same.
Overall, more than 60 percent of employers allow vacation days to be rolled over to the next year.