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

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 ( %) 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 Key Findings: Vacation benefits for full- time employees

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 Key Findings: Importance of taking vacation

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 What do these findings mean for the HR profession?

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

Type of vacation benefits offered to full-time employees SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: n = 481. Organizations that do not offer vacation benefits were excluded from this analysis. 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.

Paid vacation days offered to full-time employees SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: Only organizations with a paid vacation plan were asked these questions. Organizations that offer unlimited vacation were excluded from these analyses. Vacation Days Average11 Minimum5 Maximum30 New Employees: Number of vacation days for one year of service n = 261 Note: n = 235. Respondents who answered “don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

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

Vacation rollover policy for full-time employees by organization sector SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. Comparisons by organization sector: No Rollover Publicly owned for-profit (55%) Privately owned for-profit (46%) >Nonprofit (25%) 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: Limited Rollover Nonprofit (70%) Government (71%) >Publicly owned for-profit (33%) Nonprofit (70%)>Privately owned for-profit (49%) 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: Unlimited Rollover Government (29%)> Privately owned for-profit (5%) Nonprofit (5%) 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.

Number of vacation rollover days for full-time employees at organizations with a limited vacation rollover policy SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 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.

Percentage of full-time employees that fully utilize all of their accrued paid vacation days each year SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 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. Range of categorie s is 10% Range of categorie s is 20%

Average number of unused vacation days for full-time employees SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 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. Overall, 61% of organizations report that employees have an average of 3 or more unused vacation days each year.

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

HR professionals’ opinion about the importance of employees taking vacation for the following outcomes: SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 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.

HR professionals’ agreement/disagreement: “Employees who take most or all of their vacation each year are more likely than employees who do not to...” SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 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.

HR professionals’ agreement: “Employees who take most or all of their vacation each year are more likely than employees who do not to...” SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. The “agree” category for this analysis is a combination of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options. 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 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%)

HR professionals’ agreement: “Employees who take most or all of their vacation each year are more likely than employees who do not to...” SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. The “agree” category for this analysis is a combination of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options. 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 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%)

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

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...” SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. The “agree” category for this analysis is a combination of “strongly agree” and “agree” response options. 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%) Comparisons by organization sector

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

Demographics: Organization Industry SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: n = 464. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Percentage Professional, scientific and technical services25% Health care and social assistance18% Finance and insurance13% Manufacturing13% Government agencies9% Educational services8% Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 5% Retail trade5% Accommodation and food services4% Construction4% Information4%

Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM Note: n = 464. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Percentage Transportation and warehousing4% Wholesale trade4% Utilities3% Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 2% Arts, entertainment, and recreation2% Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction2% Real estate and rental and leasing2% Repair and maintenance2% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting1% Personal and laundry services<1% Other industry3%

Demographics: Organization Sector SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM n = 463

Demographics: Organization Staff Size SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM n = 457

n = 469 Demographics: Other SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM U.S.-based operations only 84% Multinational operations 16% 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% 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% Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization? For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both? Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally? n = 469 Note: n = 307. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding. Corporate (companywide) 87% Business unit/division10% Facility/location3% n = 307 What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?

26 SHRM Survey Findings: Vacation’s Impact on the Workplace 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 In collaboration with and commissioned by Survey Methodology SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM 2013

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

For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveysshrm.org/surveys For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit shrm.org/customizedresearchshrm.org/customizedresearch Follow us on Twitter SHRM/U.S. Travel Association: Vacation's Impact on the Workplace ©SHRM About SHRM Research 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

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