Vacation Days Left Unused By Nearly Half Of U.S. Workers: Report

Wanna get away? No.

Nearly half of American workers didn't use all of their allotted vacation days last year, according to a recent survey conducted by Kelton Research and commissioned by the Radisson hotel chain. Heavy workloads and the struggle to pay for travel were some of the primary reasons workers decided not to take more time off, the survey found.

The costs of an expensive vacation might now be too burdensome for many Americans. Wages haven't been keeping up with inflation and median household income has declined in the recent past. And still facing a weak employment market, Americans might also be prioritizing job security by forgoing vacation.

The recent survey results echo previous findings. The average employee in America left two unused vacation days last year, according to a survey from December. Taking into account that year's mean salary of $39,416, the unused vacation time amounted to a total of $34.3 billion worth of time, CNNMoney calculated.

Another recent poll by Hotwire.com reported an even larger number of abandoned vacation days for last year -- more than a week's worth -- with older Americans taking disproportionately fewer days off.

Those wasted vacation days end up benefitting employers, who have gotten more bang for their buck. An August study by Sageworks indicated the company profits made on each employee rose 22 percent from 2010 to 2011.

Comments

[CiscoPike]

02:20 PM on 04/13/2012

2 years ago I quit full time and took up "as needed" status. Best decision I ever made. I still work 30-40 hours a week, but can simply schedule time off when I want/need it without anyone giving me a hard time about it. When I was full time, I got the third degree just asking for the "paid time off" paperwork. True, I don't get paid when I take days off, but I am A LOT happier since I did what I did.

[GeneralJustice]

11:29 AM on 04/13/2012

People are scared to vacation. Bosses shoot a dirty look if you even broach the subject. Want a vacation every 5 years in America....get divorced and find a new spouse....that's the only way to take off.....the Federal Gov't should institute a mandatory 2 week vacation for all employees. Also it's good for business. A burned out employee is not good for anyone.

[rkimball]

07:16 AM on 04/13/2012

The climate is nervous in my work place. People are scared to take vacations, ask for a raise or even call in sick. They want to appear valuable after two rounds of layoffs in a year.

Several people lost vacation time. They are only allowed to carry 200 hrs vacation on the books. Anything over 200 is lost. Starting in June, our hrs will be cut back to 36 hrs/wk to save money.

[beenzrgud]

06:11 AM on 04/13/2012

In Europe it's normal to have a two week vacation every year, usually abroad, and many people also have an additional week vacation somewhere nice. Even then there are still usually enough days holiday entitlement to have quite a few long weekends.

[risraelkloss]

08:01 AM on 04/13/2012

actually, 2 weeks is WAY off. It's an average of 20 day PLUS 10 more paid holidays. See
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/2007-05-no-vacation-nation.pdf

[beenzrgud]

08:16 AM on 04/13/2012

Yeah that's what I said,

2 weeks + 1 week + a few long weekends = approximately 30 days in total

I live in Europe and sometimes I take a 3 week holiday if it's a really long flight time, and this is not uncommon. Many Americans I've spoken too describe this as the holiday of a lifetime, which surprised me since I do this probably about every third year.

[Jack Boats]

12:24 AM on 04/13/2012

Who can blame them. Went on vacation came back and was fired!

[Tom95134]

12:26 AM on 04/13/2012

Or, the company had gone out of business.

[Saxton]

08:43 PM on 04/12/2012

One company I used to work for had a policy of use it or lose it. I had three weeks vacation but often could only really take one week because there was always too many projects and partners never gave the okay, although they always took time off.

[Tom95134]

12:31 AM on 04/13/2012

I would always pack a couple of vacation days on either side or both sides of 4 day holidays/weekends. If you do that you end up ahead of the game because you get more "free" days in a row. It also means that you are traveling on days where you don't have to deal with all the other clowns trying to pack everything into four days.

Frankly, companies don't like to have that accumulated liability of vacation days on their books and would prefer that you take them. Unfortunately, for people in critical jobs it is difficult and a person often feels an obligation towards the task or project.

[Jeimy Madrid-Czarnek]

06:17 PM on 04/12/2012

At my work they tell you "if you can find a person to cover the days you want off you will be approve". Even if you are trying to get a day off for a doctors appointment.

[jweller13]

05:51 PM on 04/12/2012

It seems an unspoken understanding between employees and managers that you are expected to work 50 hours of your paid 40 hour work week. No wonder Americans are considered the most productive workers in the world.

[jonny dipstick]

03:43 PM on 04/12/2012

This is crazy! Use your vacation days! They are supposed to be there so you can spend time with your family, travel the world and see and learn new things, refresh yourself so you are more productive! C'mon people!

[Num1Christy]

03:11 PM on 04/12/2012

Stay-cations are an option. Sleep in for a week :)

[Tom95134]

12:34 AM on 04/13/2012

Buy a couple of good books, go find a nice park close by your home, pack or pickup a very nice lunch and spend the day at the park reading and having a great personal picnic.

[marlie mar]

02:59 PM on 04/12/2012

I know not everyone has the will or means to be self-employed, but this is exactly why I love it. I've worked from home now for over 10 years and can't imagine having to go back to the corporate world where I have to ask somebody's permission to take a few days off. I'll take Cinco de Mayo off if I want to and have.

[VPerry24]

02:38 PM on 04/12/2012

...and that is a surprise. I took two vacations in my lifetime. First, we could not afford it, we needed the money and then we wanted other things more than spending money on a vacation.
I worked with a lot of people, not in management, and they usually cashed in their vacation time for cash for obvoius reasons. The other 2/3 of the workforce did not get paid vacation.

[drkazmd65]

02:29 PM on 04/12/2012

I don't use all of my vacation days every year,... but then again, the unused hours/days roll over into the next year - at least up to a point - as accumulated leave.

So - What I don't use this year, I have available the next year.

[VPerry24]

02:40 PM on 04/12/2012

Our organization only let you accumulate so many hours per year or you lost them automatically when reaching above that number. Yet there was never a good time to go on vacation, more corporate visits, inventory or whatever. BTW, the school system does the same.

[Tom95134]

12:36 AM on 04/13/2012

Companies are now looking into how to flush unused vacation days every year. In addition, I heard just yesterday that a major company was going to eliminate vacation days for all salaried personnel. If you can work out days off with your boss then you just take them.

[dropthedh]

01:57 PM on 04/12/2012

I took a vacation and ended up with a second job.

[decimus]

01:51 PM on 04/12/2012

I take every minute of vacation allotted to me (3 weeks before, 4 weeks now) and I travel for 90% of it. I've gotten 2 promotions during that 4 year period. Just be good at your job.