Not Taking Time Off
Squandering Your Vacation
By Daniel Muniz

Just about every employer I have worked for, I have always found co-workers who rarely if ever took vacation days. And quite a bit of research has shown that this is a rather common occurrence for some people to frequently forsake their accrued vacation time. But who really benefits from this kind of dedication to the workplace?

Unfortunately, the simple answer is that it benefits everybody except you and your family.

I have often wondered about this category of people. On the surface, their devotion to their employer almost seems admirable but in all reality, it is quite frightening.

Many employers have a ceiling to how many hours a worker can accumulate. Once the ceiling is reached, an employee will no longer be able to accrue additional hours until the vacation time already available is expended. And for many companies, big and small, this is a reasonable approach to prevent someone from amassing a few years of vacation time as was common in many types of government jobs.

First, I have to draw the distinction between going somewhere for a vacation as opposed to simply taking vacation days.

A former co-worker from a previous job had not taken a single vacation day since the day he was hired (and he worked there for two years). This co-worker explained to me that he simply had no money to actually go anywhere, hence he didn’t see the need to take any time off. Also, his wife was a big spender and as a result, he was always broke and deep in debt. Going somewhere for a vacation was nothing more than an abstract fantasy to him.

In a way, I could understand my co-worker’s reasoning because for most of my life I have been a paycheck to paycheck sort of person so I never really had money to go anywhere. And if I ever did, it was usually spent on other things. As a result, I have never been much of a traveling sort of person.

But what about just taking vacation days and enjoying the time off from work?

There, my co-worker was stumped. As for myself, I always had taken vacation days and used the time for relaxation or to do other things. I don’t think from all the places I have worked at did I let vacation time go to waste.
 

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As for my former co-worker, he rationalized his reasoning in that we were always under tight deadlines and that missing a week or two would make a bad problem even worse. I then explained that this is the same scenario for a number of other co-workers but they still take their vacation days. And in that former place I worked at, the boss would always be mad regardless of how well or timely the job was done so I just didn’t see that as an excuse.

And for the many other co-workers I knew from all the places I worked at, their rationalizations were not much different. They simply didn’t feel compelled to use their vacation days.

In fact, the results of those surveyed in a Gallup poll reveal a rather dismal trend:

● Nearly half said they don't feel they take enough vacation time.
● 55 percent take all of their allotted vacation days in a given year.
● One in five people said they feel guilty taking vacation time and compensate by checking in while on vacation.

Personally, I have never felt guilty in taking vacation time and I never felt a bit of remorse in using up all my allotted time either. Obviously, plenty of people are different. Even if you don’t have money to go somewhere, some people just don’t know what to do with their free time or how to utilize it.

Now from the pressure or workload from your employer, that is a different issue altogether.

People taking vacation days is simply a cost of doing business and if your employer or department is going to fall apart just because you are not there for a week or two, then you are working for a badly managed company. Well run firms can adept to many kinds of temporary fluxes in workload and schedules without much impact. A badly run company will simply fall apart.

And if that is the case, then you really have to consider what type of people you work and weigh that against what you are losing out on and who is really benefiting from your dedication.

The bottom line is simple. Who really cares more about your vacation deprivation?

Who stands more to gain and lose? Your employer or your family and loved ones?

And what does your employer really gain from your contributions of vacation time?

In the recent past, theme park destination Orlando Universal broke all the “unwritten” advertising rules by creating a number of hilarious television ads about this alarming trend of vacation deprivation.

Orlando Universal starkly pointed out that not only do such workers who do not take vacation days line the pockets of their respective CEO’s but also the pockets of the industries who benefit from unhealthy lifestyles such as pharmaceutical and funeral industries. Although the ads themselves poke fun at capitalism they have brought to light this issue that many employers would rather keep hidden under the rug.

I am a tremendous advocate for “free enterprise” but the ads did strike a chord with me because of all the people that I have personally known who do not take vacations. I don’t buy into the Liberal line of corporate America exploiting its employees but I do see it more as a “soft” exploitation.

And the reason that I call it a “soft” exploitation is because supervisors, managers, and CEOs know that this is going on in their companies yet they really don’t do anything about it. Not that they create a hostile work environment but rather they merely imply a need to “not” take a vacation.

They may benefit from a short-term gain but what really is the long-term benefit from an overworked employee?

But what kind of ramifications are there for someone who doesn’t spend the enough quality time with their family and loved ones? And what about the adverse health problems of the people who never take a vacation or get a chance to relax?

Companies can immediately end this “soft” exploitation by taking a number of steps to effectively communicate through their human resources department the need for every employee to use their allotted time for vacation. And also insist that managers and supervisors follow through in requiring that their staff use their vacation time.

And the amazing thing about this is that there is absolutely no loss involved. It has nothing to do with paying people more money and giving them more benefits but rather, encouraging them to utilize the benefits that they already have.

Yes, some companies will suffer but that is because of bad management, not of any actions from their employees.

Corporate America will benefit better in the long run when it has well-adjusted and happier employees in their ranks. That in turn will create improved work environments and make free enterprise work even better.

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COMMENTS FROM READERS

I would argue that those not taking their vacation hurt not only themselves and their families, but also the business, and for many reasons. For starters, working nonstop will tend to break up families, and that's got a well known bad effect on work. Worse, those who keep their nose to the grindstone tend to be unable to see beyond the end of their nose--they simply lose the creativity and insight needed to do things well. -Robert