Vacation Time Has Many Benefits. Here’s How to Use It

Are you daydreaming at your desk about sipping a drink on a tropical beach or exploring new cities? It might be time to take a vacation—in real life.

There are many benefits of vacation time, mentally, physically, and professionally, yet many people are reluctant to take it or ask for it when they get a job offer.

Why is vacation important? We have the details on how much vacation time is normal, what PTO days are, and the many benefits of vacation.

What Is Vacation Time?

Paid vacation time is time off that is intended for you to take a planned vacation. While you don’t have to travel during that time (sometimes a staycation can be as relaxing as a trip abroad), vacation days are set aside for you to take a long break from work. Vacation time is generally not meant to be used for sick leave or unexpected emergencies, for example.

Paid time off (PTO) is a more general term that covers many different reasons to be away from work, such as sick leave, personal reasons, or vacation. Employers may offer only sick leave or vacation time or designate a specific number for each (for example, 10 vacation days and 2 sick days a year). Employers can also allow employees to take unpaid time off.

Why Is Vacation Important?

The answer to this question might seem obvious, but a surprising number of workers don’t use all of the vacation or PTO days offered by their employer. In fact, a Monster poll found that over 70% of workers have avoided requesting PTO. But if you’re used to leaving vacation days on the table at the end of the year, you might want to reconsider.

Taking a vacation has many benefits and can increase both your job satisfaction and your overall mental and physical health. Here are some of the many benefits of vacation:

• Taking days off from work can reduce depression and anxiety. There are also mental health benefits for people who aren’t depressed or anxious—vacations can reduce stress for everyone, an effect that can last for weeks post-vacation.
• The mental health benefits of vacation can have the long-term result of helping you to be more productive, patient, and creative at work when you return. Allowing your mind to rest and rejuvenate can help you to spark new ideas, work better with others, and tackle that huge project that’s been looming over you for months.
• Vacation from work can also improve your physical health by decreasing the risk of heart attack and reducing back pain. This could be a result of the stress reduction, the break from a labour-intensive job, or the opposite—more physical activity for those who have a desk job.

Still not convinced? You should know that these benefits have been scientifically proven in several studies including one that found significant improvements in year-end performance for workers who took more vacation days.

What Are the Laws Around Vacation Days?

Despite the proven benefits of vacation, there are no federal or province laws that require paid or unpaid vacation for all workers in Canada. Federal employees earn vacation according to federal guidelines, and employers often need to follow specific province guidelines as well. If an employer has a collective bargaining agreement with a union, they will also be required to follow the policies in that agreement about time off, if any.

Although these circumstances don’t quite qualify as vacation, there are laws in place for other types of time off. Unfortunately, there are exceptions to these policies (workers may have to be employees as opposed to contractors, for example). These are the most common laws around paid leave:

• Some provinces give you the right to paid time off for voting.
• The Family and Medical Leave requires certain employers to give unpaid leave for the arrival of a new child, medical leave, or to care for an immediate family member who is seriously ill.
• Some provinces require employees to give workers paid or unpaid time off for jury duty.
• The federal regulator requires employers to offer paid vacation leave (either as a general PTO policy or designated solely as vacation leave).

How Much Vacation Time Is Normal?

Your employer is legally required to give you vacation days. How many you get depends on your province. The average number of vacation days per year is 10 days, but this varies greatly depending on how many years you’ve worked for an employer. These are some examples of the different lengths of service that affect vacation time, based on federal law from the Government of Canada

• After 1 year: 2 weeks of vacation after you have completed 1 year of employment with the same employer
• After 5 years: 3 weeks of vacation after you have completed 5 consecutive years of employment with the same employer
• After 10 years: 4 weeks of vacation after you have completed 10 consecutive years of employments with the same employer

Common Vacation Policies

How many days you are legally entitled to have off is only one part of a company’s vacation policy. Your employment contract, written HR policies, or collective bargaining agreements typically detail the terms and conditions of time off, although some smaller companies may not have these.

Before you start a new job, it’s wise to get details around PTO in writing, for example:

• How many vacation days, sick leave, and personal days off do I get?
• How are these days accrued?
• What happens if I don’t use them at the end of the year?
• How much notice do I need to give for a vacation request?
• Are there any restrictions on using PTO?

While companies’ vacation policies can differ, there are some common vacation policies that most organizations follow:

• New employees typically go through a waiting time before they can take a vacation.
• Part-time employees may accrue less time off depending on their years of service.

Some employees may require you to take a minimum or maximum number of vacation days off at the same time (for example, you may not be able to take single vacation days or vacation over one week at a time). Employers can also block certain days off from vacation requests.

What Happens When You Don’t Use Vacation Days?

It’s a good idea to use all of your vacation time each year. But what if you’ve been slammed at work and haven’t had an opportunity to take a break? What happens when you don’t use vacation days depends on company policies, as well as provincial laws. Accrued vacation days can:

• Roll over: This means you can use days the next year, or even a following year, depending on the rules.
• Expire: Informally called “use it or lose it,” this means that you will lose the days you don’t take at the end of the year (or on another date, depending on how vacation time is accrued).
• Stop accruing: Some provinces don’t allow “use it or lose it” policies. To avoid employees saving up months of vacation time, companies can limit the number of days employees can save.
• Cash out: Some employers allow you to get extra pay for the vacation days you don’t use, for example at the end of the year or when you leave the job.

How Many Vacation Days Should You Take a Year?

It’s good to take all your vacation days each year, even if they roll over. Saving up the days for a long trip may sound fun but can lead to stress and burnout during the year you skimp on vacation days. The same applies if you plan on cashing out your vacation days if that’s allowed at your work.

Despite the benefits of taking time off work, and the risk of losing vacation days, most Canadian workers don’t use all their vacation days. Here are some of the most common reasons for people don’t use their allotted time off:

• 43% don’t take their full allotment of vacation days each year.
• 25% facing unexpected last-minute problems and challenges at.
• 21% feeling there is too much that has to be done before and after a trip to make it worthwhile.

If you feel like you can’t take off vacation time that you already earned, it’s possible that you’re experiencing a toxic work environment.

On the other hand, if you’re the one putting pressure on yourself to work too much, consider the cost of being a workaholic.

Find a Job With More Vacation Time

Not happy with your work benefits? Find a new job on Monster. Create a profile to start sending out applications today. Even if you’re happy at your job, we can still help you get the most out of your career. Sign up with Monster to get our regular career advice emails—so that you can put all that extra post-vacation energy into making the rest of your year (almost) as enjoyable as your time off.