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Employee Vacations Yield Significant ROI for Employers: “Smart companies understand the value of vacations and encourage workers to take them… They actually help workers plan for vacations because they understand their value.”

– Carroll Lachnit, editor of Workforce magazine, Irvine, CA.

Improve Productivity & Work/Life Balance • Employers are learning to recognize that for every dollar of vacations benefits they provide their

employees, they receive a $3 return on the benefit investment in the form of improved employee productivity and morale. –Austin Business Journal

• “If you work seven 50-hour weeks in a row you don’t get more done than in seven 40-hour weeks. Overtime is not productive and fatigue seeps into the regular work time. – Why the Brain Needs a Break, Hara Estroff/Marano, Psychology Today

• European countries, for example, mandate a minimum of four weeks vacation per year compared to two weeks in North America. Yet Europe surpassed the U.S. in growing its productivity year over year for 14 of the 19 years between 1981 and 2000, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Increase Employee Retention & Morale • 55% of workers who didn’t take all their vacation time experienced high levels of feeling overworked

versus 27 % who did. –Families and Work Institute • Research suggest that reducing stress and taking regular vacations – once or twice a year – may be

as vital to your emotional and physical well-being as exercise or a healthful diet. And the benefits don’t stop there. Vacations seem to have a positive impact on families and organizations as well. – RealAge. Inc., peer-reviewed by Dr. Axel Goetz

• Employees who are overworked (i.e., those who do NOT take vacations) are more likely to make mistakes, be angry at their employers and colleagues who don’t work as hard, have higher stress levels, feel symptoms of clinical depression, neglect themselves and report poor health. –Families and Work Institute

• “Workplace stress can take its toll. In order to maintain a strong state of mental health, the human body needs a release and a source of replenishment. An ideal vacation should eliminate stress, encourage relaxation and provide opportunities for rejuvenation, making the benefits of the experience immeasurable.” --Dorothy Cantor, President of the American Psychological Foundation.

Reduce Healthcare Costs • A Study of 46,026 employees found those who report depression, heavy stress or other risk factors

are far more likely to have extremely high health-care costs. The burned out employee will utilize medical services, experience increased sick time and have lower productivity, all costing the employer money. –Health Enhancement Research Organization, Birmingham, AL

• U.S. workers gave back $21 billion to their employers by not taking vacation last year. Still, that brought no joy to many in the executive suite who noted that companies lost $150 billion in 2002 in costs related to worker burnout. – www.courierpostonline.com.

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• Scientific studies show that men and women taking time off were less likely to die from coronary heart disease. Those sobering stats join a body of research revealing that going on vacation has restorative effects like decreased stress and job burnout. – www.herald-dispatch.com

• Middle-aged women who took vacations very infrequently (defined as once every six years or less often) had eight times the risk of either having a heart attack or dying of heart disease. –Researcher Elaine Eaker

• Many Americans are involuntary workaholics, results of a recent survey suggest. More than 30% of workers gobble their lunch while they work and nearly 20% said they are too overworked to use their annual vacation time – even though they already have fewer vacation days then workers in other industrialized nations. Regular vacations are preventive medicine; they cut down on stress- related illness and save health care dollars. –Oxford Health Plans Survey

• In a study of 12,338 middle-aged men at risk for heart disease, researchers at the State University of New York in Oswego found that those who did not take regular vacations were more likely to die over a nine-year period than those who did, especially from heart problems

• New research suggests that working for years without taking vacations could put people at risk for early death, particularly from heart disease. The difference in death rates was most significant between the 13% of participants who never took vacation and the 26% who reported taking five vacations a year. The five vacation group had on third lower risk of dying during the 9-year study period compared to the no vacation group. Even more significant, the five-vacation group had a 40% lower risk of dying compared to the no-vacation group. Vacations may not only be enjoyable but also health promoting. – Vacations Delay Death, Psychosomatic Medicine

Contact Eric S Neitzel Corporate Vacation Benefits Specialist 928-587-1016 eric@fireground.com