49% of businesses encourage PTO – but employees are too swamped with work to take it

Summer is in full swing, which can only mean one thing – holiday season is upon us.

These are typically the months where more employees are opting to put their busy working life on pause, to enjoy a week or so of well-deserved R&R.

However, new findings from LiveCareers PTO Culture Crisis report found that 33% of employees feel pressure not to use all their PTO, with 9% stating their employer actively discourages time off.

Speaking exclusively to Toni Frana, Career Expert at LiveCareer, UNLEASH discovers why this is a problem for businesses, and why HR should actively encourage PTO.

Why are employees not taking PTO?

The top reasons deterring employees from taking PTO were found to be due to fear of work pile up during their absence (19%), missing important information or losing an opportunity (19%), believing others will see them as less committed (12%), fear of being laid off or replaced (8%).

However, Frana highlights the importance of taking a break from work. She says: “Taking time away from the office to rest and recharge is a critical component of a healthy work-life balance and can prevent burnout and disengagement among the workforce.

“Employees who have time away from their desks often come back recharged and in a better position to take on new challenges or bring creative ideas to the table.”

Almost half (49%) of employees polled said that their company supports PTO, however, having an unrealistic workload makes it hard for employees to utilize this.

Supporting this, 45% receive more than two weeks off annually, 52% admit that they will take less than one week this summer.

Although almost half of employers say they encourage time off, 6% were found to discourage vacation in subtle, indirect ways, with 2% explicitly discouraging it.

Employers need to take note of this startling statistic and put greater effort into empowering their teams to take vacation without guilt or worry,” Frana adds.Employers need to take note of this startling statistic and put greater effort into empowering their teams to take vacation without guilt or worry,” Frana adds.

“If not, they could be dealing with lower productivity levels, higher turnover and employee engagement issues in the long term.”

To rectify this, the report suggests that policies aren’t enough to encourage workers to take leave – they need to feel supported.

The report also found that 5c when it comes to taking earned PTO, which is another deterring factor.

To cultivate an environment that encourages this, employees polled shared they need better financial stability (51%), more PTO (26%), coverage for their work (25%), mental health days built into benefits (18%), supportive managers and leadership (18%), reduced fear of layoffs (12%), and clearer company policies on time off (7%).

“It’s clear these unhealthy practices around vacation time are impacting a large portion of the workforce,” Frana concludes.

Harmful workplace culture surrounding time off is not limited to a few bad actors, it's a systemic issue that deserves urgent attention.”Harmful workplace culture surrounding time off is not limited to a few bad actors, it's a systemic issue that deserves urgent attention.”