The amount of vacation time people dont take will sadden you

The amount of vacation time people dont take will sadden youThe amount of vacation time people dont take will sadden youNothing is more fraught in the American workplace than vacations how much time you get (or dont), whether youre actually allowed to take it, whether you actually do take it even though youre allowed to, how totally stressful it is to prepare to go away and leave your work in the hands of co-workers, and whether or not youll choose to work during your holiday, then resent yourself and your employer after you do it.With that in mind, Celebrity Cruises conducted a survey of 1200 employees, 750 of who had paid time off. They got down to the underbelly of the world of American vacations and paid time off.Across industries, the median number of paid days off annually is 14. A decent percentage would like more days and would sacrifice money to get them 18% of employees would prefer five extra paid vacation days to a 10% raise.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magaz ines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreBecause we feel guilty about taking the time off that is rightfully ours, 47% of employees surveyed left paid vacation days unused.Perhaps some of that 47% had vacation requests denied. Everybody knows the disappointment of being left out of a fun weekend in Bridgehampton because were understaffed, and 21% of employees had a vacation request denied in the belastung year.Rich use it, poor lose itEverybodys heard the phrase use it or lose it when it comes to your days but sometimes you cant afford to use it. According to the survey, those who earned more tended to take more of their time off and the opposite was true as well. The highest earners at incomes of $100,000 or more were the most likely (98%) to use their time off. The lowest earners with incomes of $24,999 or less were less likely (83%) to use their time off.Pre-vacay stressThe pre-vacation scramble is the worst, as you rush to get everything done. (Because if you dont do it correctly, who will?) A full62% of employees put in extra hours the week before a vacation usually between one and five. And 50% of women said they felt extra stressed the week before a vacation. Men were more relaxed, with only 36% feeling more stress.The stress boils down toThe amount of work Ill have when I return 65%Worry that my work will not be handled correctly while Im away 61%Trying to schliff all my work before leaving 56%I dont want a co-worker handling my work 39%Worry my employer will think Im not dedicated to my job because Im taking time off 26%Geez, no wonder people dont take all their vacation time.Will you or wont you?Now youre at your final destination. The palm trees are swaying gently in the breeze. The phone rings. Who do you think it is?Dont answer 63% have been contacted by work while on vacation. And 72% said it could have waited until they got back.But what if what if something needs to be done? Oh, forget about it. Nearly half (46%) of those surveyed didnt work while on their vacation. When they did, it was usually between 10-30 minutes.For those who did work from the beach, they usually suffered the consequences. Working while vacationing caused fights between nearly 40% of couples. Other people who worked on vacation felt stressed (77%), missed plans (21%), stressed out their travel companions (23%), and one step further and annoyed their travel companions (36%).Just remember youre probably not being paid enough to work off the clock. Happy trails