It’s an oft-cited statistic that many of us do not take all of our vacation days every year.
In one study released just last month by the U.S. Travel Association titled “Overwhelmed America: Why Don’t We Use Our Earned Leave?,” four in 10 workers said they do not take all of their vacation time, although 96 percent of them also said taking time off is important. They cited reasons like too much work and worry about sending a message to higher-ups that the organization can run just fine without them. That sense of short staffing and unease about job security may exist in most workplaces now.
But what we do not talk enough about is a growing use of some workplace policies that require long hours with few days off or with little notice about schedule changes.
Erin — not his real name — wrote in an e-mail that he has felt overwhelmed and miserable in his more than two decades in the restaurant business but sees few ways out.
“It is common to put in 60+ hours in six days straight only to have them land in 2 pay periods so about 30 hours each,” he wrote of his job in the “back of the house” without the possibility of tips. “Get switched to salary during the busy season doing 50-60 hours 6 days a week for a couple of months and then after the seasonal help is cut way back leaving more workload. ... With the few that ‘offer’ vacation time, there is not enough staff to cover the time or somehow don’t qualify.”
Erin says he looks for a new job, just to find the same conditions.
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