News & Information

CCH® HR MANAGEMENT — 9/26/06

Lower-level employees use vacation time while managers more likely to take long weekends, survey finds

Nonmanagement workers tend to make full use of their vacation time each year, more so than executive-level and middle-level employees, according to the 2006 Workplace Vacation Survey, jointly conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's executive career guide.

HR professionals indicated that employees with two years or less tenure were more likely to use sick or personal days as vacation days compared with employees employed for 16 or more years. According to 68 percent of the 619 HR professionals that completed the survey, one year or less tenured executive-level employees at their organizations receive more than two weeks of paid vacation/paid time off per year compared with 50 percent of middle management and 35 percent of non-management employees. New hires in a non-management level were provided with two weeks per year of paid vacation/paid time off according to 42 percent of HR professionals.

"U.S. workers are among the most productive in the world, but no time away from work can lead to burnout, reduced productivity and higher turnover," said Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR, president and CEO of SHRM. "Utilizing flexible scheduling and technology can be an effective means for organizations to help employees take a much needed rest."

"Even though they may qualify for more than two weeks off a year, middle and upper-level employees may feel they need to put in more time at work in order to move up the corporate ladder," said David Patton, editorial director, CareerJournal.com. "With the increased use of mobile communication devices and easy access to email, they can take the breaks they need while remaining in touch with the office."

Employees are choosing long weekends. The long weekend vacation was again the choice of U.S. workers this summer, in lieu of extended vacations, and many workers are using their vacations to get work done. Survey results revealed that almost 60 percent of HR professionals and 44 percent of employees agreed that employees were opting to take long weekend vacations instead of being out of the office for longer periods of time.

While employees are taking shorter breaks to lessen the length of time away from job duties, 43 percent of HR professionals and 30 percent of employees polled agreed that employees often also combine business trips with personal vacations. One-third of employees surveyed indicated that they typically take work on vacation and almost half of HR professionals said that employees feel personally obligated to stay connected to their organization while on vacation. Four percent of HR professionals and employees said their organizations ask that they stay connected to the office while on vacation.

Additionally, increased access to communication devices has made it easier to link vacationing workers to their jobs. Eighty-one percent of HR professionals said that their organizations provide a means to stay connected to the office, such as cell phones, pagers, laptops and Blackberries or other handheld devices.

Although the survey shows that employees feel obligated to work on their days off, survey findings also indicate that employees still value and want time away from work.

For additional information on this and other HR topics, consult CCH Human Resources Management or Personnel Practices/Communications.

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