Take Control: Take a Summer Vacation

June 5, 2007 — -- Americans are vacation-deprived.

According to an Expedia.com survey, 35 percent, or an estimated 51.2 million Americans, will not use all of their vacation days this year. In fact, they'll leave an average of three vacation days on the table, which calculates to U.S. employed adults giving back a total of more than 438 million vacation days in 2007 alone.

There are two workplace issues that prevent most Americans from taking much-needed time away: stress and concern about job security.

Not only are Americans stressed out while they're at work, they take that anxiety with them when they finally get away. Thirty percent of workers say that they struggle with work stress while out of the office.

Why? For many, they envision a slew of messages and a massive to-do list waiting upon their return.

Some workers use their vacation days to take care of important personal and family obligations -- everything from doctor's appointments to caring for older relatives -- which isn't relaxing at all.

Others worry about job security. It's the fear of out of sight, out of mind: "What if I go away and they don't miss me? I don't want to take that risk, so I'll just stay here."

And many workers justify that line of thinking by saying they'll save money or that they couldn't really have afforded a vacation anyway.

But now, employers want their workers to take their vacations because they recognize that everyone has to relax and recharge. Running people ragged and draining them isn't a good thing.

Some companies have policies that force people to take their vacations. At the corporate offices of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, staffers receive five weeks of paid vacation at two years of service on one condition: They must take two consecutive weeks off to recharge. CEO Brian Scudamore says the "extra vacation time helps prevent burnout, which can lead to losing employees -- a very high price to pay."