Do you offer paid leave to your employees? How about paying for
their vacations? A trend sweeping through the business world is doing just
that. Companies are rolling vacation time, sick leave, and any other time off
into one plan and offering their employees unlimited time off. While the concept is trending, the Society for Human
Resource Management says that only 1% of U.S. employers are offering unlimited
time off. Others are offering stipends, free adventure trips, and use of company
properties to encourage employees to take a break. The consensus of all
the new thinking being that happier employees are easier to retain and are more
productive.
Abuse? There’s not that much. Companies
that offer unlimited vacation tend to be invested in hiring responsible
employees who can balance taking time off with getting their work done. While
unlimited vacation can be hard for managers to implement, most employees
aren’t taking advantage of the perk. They get overwhelmed by
the possibilities or can’t find the right amount that they feel is a fair
amount to take. Employees still feel that their reputation will be damaged
if they are away from the office too much.
Americans only take about half of their earned
vacation days adding up to some $50 billion in lost paid vacation. A study
conducted by the U.S. Travel Association found that American workers averaged
16 days leave in 2013; down from 20 in 2000. While most companies praise
workaholics, people that don’t ever take off may being harming themselves and
the office culture. It’s been well proven that not being able to
disconnect from work can be unhealthy, but those individuals may cause
resentment and guilt among their coworkers. Oxford
Economics conducted a survey that found that 13 percent of managers were less
likely to promote employees who took all of their allotted vacation. The DIW
Economic Bulletin published a German study in 2012 that indicated employees who
took fewer days off earned almost three percent more than those who took all
their vacation time.
Too offer even more encouragement companies are giving
cash or other incentives to use vacation days. Some are also experimenting
with paying employees to take vacation by offering a percentage of their
salaries as a stipend or bonuses to help pay for the vacation, with
stipulations that they actually take a trip of at least five days and not just
stay home. Companies that aren’t offering the time off or stipends are
paying for Caribbean getaways or adventure type vacations. Again, the
idea being that a company that is a great place to work will have higher
employee retention.
Those working at more traditional minded companies
have countered with a plan of their own. Employees request what are becoming
known as “workcations”. This is where the employee is granted leave (time away
from the office) but they agree to telecommute while they are away. The
employee pays for the trip, but the leave is not charged against their vacation
days.
Critics wonder how much work is actually being
completed while at the beach with your family. Some employers or tasks just
aren’t logistically equipped to handle telecommuting. Those concerned for employee
health question if employees are really benefitting from being out of the
office. Workers like the idea of a change of environment and feel that more can
be accomplished without the constant interruptions present in the office.
Further they can get away while saving their leave for life’s emergency that
pop up. Kenneth Matos, senior director of
research at the Families and Work Institute, says: “Is the workcation
detracting from the vacation you were going to have, or is it enabling the
vacation you otherwise wouldn’t have had?”
Either way, both companies and employees are getting
creative with their use of paid leave. Traditional time off is definitely
changing.
