1. SHRM Survey Findings: Vacation’s Impact on the Workplace
In collaboration with and commissioned by
November 12, 2013

2. Key Findings: Vacation benefits for full-time employees
What types of vacation benefits do organizations offer? Slightly more than one-half (55%) of organizations offer paid vacation plans, whereas the remaining 45% offer paid time off plans.
Among organizations with a paid vacation plan, how many vacation days do full-time employees receive annually? New employees with one year of service receive an average of 11 paid vacation days a year. For all full-time employees, most organizations (86%) are providing between 6-20 vacation days on average, with 40% providing days.
Do organizations with a paid vacation plan allow employees to roll over vacation days from one year to the next? About three out of five organizations (62%) allow employees to roll over vacation days—54% allow limited rollover days and 8% allow unlimited rollover. Among organizations with a limited rollover policy, 56% allow 1-10 vacation days to be rolled over. More than one-third of organizations (38%) require employees to use all of their vacation days each year; otherwise, their vacation days will be lost.
Do employees use all of their available vacation days? Among organizations that do not allow vacation rollover, three-quarters (77%) indicate that most employees (81-100%) use all of their vacation days each year. Sixty-four percent of these organizations report an average of 0-2 unused vacation days and 31% report 3-5 unused days. Among organizations that allow rollover, 31% indicate that most employees (81-100%) use all of their vacation days each year. One-quarter of these organizations (26%) report an average of 0-2 unused vacation days, 39% report 3-5 unused days, and 34% report 6 or more unused days.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

3. Key Findings: Importance of taking vacation
Do HR professionals think that it is important for employees to take their vacation? A large majority of HR professionals think that taking vacation is either extremely or very important for a variety of factors related to talent management, namely performance (94%), morale (92%), wellness (92%), a positive culture (90%), productivity (90%) and retention (88%). Fewer, although still a majority (70%), believe that taking vacation is extremely or very important for inspiring creativity.
Do HR professionals think that employees who take most or all of their vacation each year differ on certain measurable outcomes from those who take less vacation? About three-quarters of HR professionals agree or strongly agree that employees who take most or all of their vacation are more likely to experience higher levels of job satisfaction (78%), be more productive (77%) and perform better (75%) compared with employees who take less vacation.
If employees who were taking less vacation started taking more vacation, do HR professionals believe it would change certain measurable outcomes? More than two-thirds of HR professionals agree or strongly agree that if these employees started taking more vacation, they would experience higher levels of job satisfaction (74%), be more productive (72%), perform better (69%) and be more engaged at work (67%).
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

4. What do these findings mean for the HR profession?
Know the numbers. HR professionals overwhelmingly agree that it is important for employees to take vacation because doing so positively affects employee satisfaction, productivity, wellness, etc. Therefore, it would be valuable to know how many vacation days employees are using and whether they are neglecting to take vacation. If employees are not taking vacation days, what is the reason?
Take a lead. HR professionals can help influence the organization’s culture regarding vacation. Does your organization’s vacation policy fit with your organization’s culture? Is the vacation policy being communicated and applied accurately and fairly across the organization?
Understand your employees. Many employers are doing more with less in the current economy. This could mean that your employees have greater workloads and are taking on more responsibility. Could your organization’s employees be feeling overwhelmed? Do managers and leaders encourage employees to take vacation? Do employees feel comfortable requesting vacation time? Is there a stigma associated with taking too much vacation time?
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

5. Vacation Benefits for Full-time Employees
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

6. Type of vacation benefits offered to full-time employees
Because this study focuses on vacation benefits, the next slides reflect answers to questions asked only of respondents whose organizations offer a paid vacation plan.
Note: n = 481. Organizations that do not offer vacation benefits were excluded from this analysis.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

7. Paid vacation days offered to full-time employees
New Employees: Number of vacation days for one year of service
Vacation Days
Average 11
Minimum 5
Maximum 30
n = 261
Note: n = 235. Respondents who answered “don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.
Note: Only organizations with a paid vacation plan were asked these questions. Organizations that offer unlimited vacation were excluded from these analyses.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

8. Vacation rollover policy for full-time employees
Among organizations with limited rollover days, 56% allow 1-10 vacation days to be rolled over from one year to the next.
Note: n = 256. Only organizations with a paid vacation plan were asked this question. Organizations that offer unlimited vacation were excluded from this analysis.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

9. Vacation rollover policy for full-time employees by organization sector
Comparisons by organization sector
Publicly and privately owned for-profit organizations are more likely than nonprofit organizations to require all vacation days to be used each year.
Comparisons by organization sector:
No Rollover
Publicly owned for-profit (55%)
Privately owned for-profit (46%)
>
Nonprofit (25%)
Nonprofit and government organizations are more likely than publicly owned for-profits, and nonprofit organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profits, to allow a limited number of vacation days to be rolled over from one year to the next.
Comparisons by organization sector:
Limited Rollover
Nonprofit (70%)
Government (71%)
>
Publicly owned for-profit (33%)
Privately owned for-profit (49%)
Government organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profit and nonprofit organizations to allow an unlimited number of vacation days to be rolled over from one year to the next.
Comparisons by organization sector:
Unlimited Rollover
Government (29%)
>
Privately owned for-profit (5%)
Nonprofit (5%)
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

10. Number of vacation rollover days for full-time employees at organizations with a limited vacation rollover policy
Note: n = 134. Only organizations with a paid vacation plan that allows a limited number of rollover days were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

11. Range of categories is 10%
Percentage of full-time employees that fully utilize all of their accrued paid vacation days each year
Range of categories is 10%
Range of categories is 20%
Note: Only organizations with a paid vacation plan were asked this question. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. Organizations that offer unlimited vacation were excluded from this analysis.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

12. Average number of unused vacation days for full-time employees
Overall, 61% of organizations report that employees have an average of 3 or more unused vacation days each year.
Note: Only organizations with a paid vacation plan were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding. Organizations that offer unlimited vacation were excluded from this analyses.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

13. The Importance of Taking Vacation
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

14. HR professionals’ opinion about the importance of employees taking vacation for the following outcomes:
Note: n = Respondents who answered “don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. The “not important” category is a combination of “not very important” and “not important at all” response options. Questions are sorted in descending order by the “extremely important” response option.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

15. HR professionals’ agreement/disagreement: “Employees who take most or all of their vacation each year are more likely than employees who do not to...”
Note: n = Respondents who answered “don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. Questions are sorted in descending order by the sum of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

16. Comparisons by rollover policy: Comparisons by rollover policy:
HR professionals’ agreement: “Employees who take most or all of their vacation each year are more likely than employees who do not to...”
Comparisons by rollover policy
Comparisons by rollover policy:
Agree that employees who take most or all of their vacation will stay with the organization longer
Required to use all vacation days (70%)
>
Can roll over limited number of days (55%)
Comparisons by rollover policy:
Agree that employees who take most or all of their vacation will be more productive in their jobs
Required to use all vacation days (85%)
>
Can roll over limited number of days (69%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. The “agree” category for this analysis is a combination of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

17. HR professionals’ agreement: “Employees who take most or all of their vacation each year are more likely than employees who do not to...”
Comparisons by organization sector
Comparisons by organization sector:
Agree that employees who take most or all of their vacation are more likely to be more productive in their jobs
Privately owned for-profit (79%)
>
Government (57%)
Comparisons by organization sector:
Agree that employees who take most or all of their vacation experience higher levels of job satisfaction
Publicly owned for-profit (89%)
>
Nonprofit (71%)
Government (63%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. The “agree” category for this analysis is a combination of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

18. HR professionals’ agreement/disagreement: “If employees who were taking less vacation started taking more of their available paid vacation days each year, they would be more likely to...”
Note: n = Respondents who answered “don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. Questions are sorted in descending order by the sum of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

19. Comparisons by organization sector:
HR professionals’ agreement: “If employees who were taking less vacation started taking more of their available paid vacation days each year, they would be more likely to...”
Comparisons by organization sector
Comparisons by organization sector:
Agree that if employees started taking more vacation they would experience greater employee engagement
Publicly owned for-profit (74%)
Privately owned for-profit (70%)
>
Nonprofit (51%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. The “agree” category for this analysis is a combination of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

20. Demographics
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

21. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Professional, scientific and technical services
25%
Health care and social assistance
18%
Finance and insurance
13%
Manufacturing
Government agencies 9%
Educational services 8%
Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 5%
Retail trade
Accommodation and food services 4%
Construction
Information
Note: n = 464. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

22. Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)
Percentage
Transportation and warehousing 4%
Wholesale trade
Utilities 3%
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 2%
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Real estate and rental and leasing
Repair and maintenance
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%
Personal and laundry services
<1%
Other industry
Note: n = 464. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

23. Demographics: Organization Sector
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

24. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

25. Demographics: Other
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?
Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?
Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same.
36%
Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location.
64%
U.S.-based operations only
84%
Multinational operations
16%
n = 469
n = 469
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?
What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices
68%
Each work location determines HR policies and practices 2%
A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices
31%
Corporate (companywide)
87%
Business unit/division
10%
Facility/location 3%
n = 307
Note: n = 307. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

26. SHRM Survey Findings: Vacation’s Impact on the Workplace
In collaboration with and commissioned by
Survey Methodology
Response rate = 17%
481 HR professionals from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership with the job title of director or above participated in this survey
Margin of error +/-5%
Survey fielded August 22-September 5, 2013
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

27. Additional SHRM Resources
Publicly available Research
2014 Holiday Schedules
Research Available Online to SHRM Members Only
(Note: Hard copies of these reports can be purchased at SHRMstore.org)
2013 Employee Benefits Report
2012 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report
Fee-Based Services
SHRM Customized Benchmarking Service – Paid Leave Report
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

28. About SHRM Research
For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveys For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit shrm.org/customizedresearch Follow us on
Project lead:
Tanya Mulvey, researcher, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research
Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research
Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research
Copy editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

29. About SHRM
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates.
SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013