Dive Brief:
- Personal time off (PTO) benefits are among the key factors job candidates consider when choosing their next employers, but the negative side of PTO is lower-paid workers are more likely to use it for medical emergencies, family or personal obligations instead of actually taking a vacation.
- According a new study conducted by TriNet and reported by Employee Benefits News, 89% of survey participants said PTO influenced their employer choice and job satisfaction. A telling statistic is the average salary of those surveyed who said they take PTO for pleasure was nearly $76,000, which means economic factors, real or perceived, prevent lower earning workers from taking advantage.
- Workers who reserve PTO (which accounts for all time off benefits - sick leave as well as vacation time) for personal or family crises earned approximately $54,000 annually, very close to the U.S. annual average salary of just under $53,000, the survey found.
Dive Insight:
Despite U.S. workers valuing generous PTO packages as a critical job hunting factor, they still let vacation days go to waste. For example, EBN reports that more than half of employees responding to a different study from Namely, an HR, payroll and benefits provider, said they intend to take 15 or 20 days of annual leave, but the average American took only 11 vacation days in 2015 (an average of 15 days are offered).
If an employer is committed to improving employee restfulness by using the PTO days, it might take tweaking company infrastructure to support it. For example, workplace leaders should help employees manage their workload by advising on what should be considered a priority deliverable, adjusting or moving deadlines as necessary, and by getting colleagues to agree to pick-up any critical items that cannot wait until the vacationing employee returns.
Also, vacationing employees should be encouraged to give a briefing of their current projects before they leave and provide any necessary resources, like vendor phone numbers, to help the company deal with any emergencies that pop up during their absence.
