Benefits July 7, 2010

Employees Ready for Vacation

July 7, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Employees are ready for a post-recession break from the office and are planning to take advantage of the summer vacation season, according to the June American Workplace Insights online survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Adecco Staffing US.

Reported by

Rebecca Moore

A majority of employees (78%) are not concerned about their job security if they take a vacation – a possible sign that confidence is increasing in the workplace as the economy continues to rebound, Adecco said. In addition, employees are largely looking to truly “unplug” while they’re away, as only 37% plan to connect with the office via cell or e-mail while on vacation this summer.

Employers, however, may not be ready for employees to take a break. While 43% of employees are expecting that their employer will encourage them to use their vacation time, more than half (58%) believe their employers will not offer summer or flex-hours/arrangements this year. Additionally, 52% of employees are not expecting summer benefits such as happy hours, picnics, and casual dress work days.

Despite these feelings, employees plan to be honest about taking time off. Over three-quarters (76%) of employees reported they will not call in sick just to take time off.

The survey also found:

While employees are looking to take a break from the office this summer, they’re not looking to run away from it. More than two-thirds (68%) said they would not purposely take a vacation in a location with no phone or e-mail service so they don’t have to check-in with work.
Nearly one-quarter (24%) of employees plan to work from home more/at all this summer, with men planning on enjoying the summer from home (28%) more so than their female counterparts (19%).

A recent survey by CareerBuilder found workers say they are more in need of a vacation following the recession than they have been in previous years (see Workers Need Vacation More than Ever).