A vacation, to many people, is either a leave of absence in a regular employment, a special trip or travel, or even just a short leave of absence for a personal reason. Many people frequently take a vacation either for certain festivals or events, or on particular holiday observances. Vacations are also often spent alone with family or friends. Nevertheless, vacation can be synonymous with time away and leisure pursuit.
When people take vacations, they typically do so because they need some “me” time, maybe to unwind from work, or to recharge their batteries, get some much-needed fresh air, and just have fun. It could also be because they are ill or injured, in which case, taking time away from work improves their health and recovery. This is the basis, at least in part, for the wide variety of employers who make vacation days mandatory as part of their employee benefits packages.
However, all vacations should be viewed on their own as a benefit of working for an employer. For instance, a prospective employee who has children who he must take along when he goes for a break in between stints at his job may view holidays and vacation time as a valuable fringe benefit to his package. Employers are well aware that employees value holidays and vacation time. Therefore, if an employee requires time off when he needs it, then his employer will often provide it. This is true whether it is paid or unpaid.
However, in today’s economic times, many people are choosing not to take vacations for a variety of reasons. One reason may be the exorbitant health benefits provided by many companies. Those benefits may be attractive, but most people can’t afford them. Another reason many people choose not to take vacations is simply because they don’t like the idea of going away from family and friends. They may prefer to spend their holidays playing video games or surfing the web rather than taking time away from their families.
With so many people choosing not to take vacation time away, it has become necessary for some employers to create vacation policies that offer paid holidays and paid vacation days. This is not a new concept. Indeed, this type of policy has been around for decades. However, it has only been recently that so many companies have chosen to adopt it. And why not, with all the advantages that come with it?
Employers who choose to offer vacation days and paid holidays encourage loyalty in their employees. Studies have shown that employees who are given paid vacations are much more likely to use those vacation days to extend their job offers. Additionally, they take less time off than their colleagues who aren’t offered any paid days off. In a year when the economy seems to be struggling, these types of policies can really help an employer save money. So if you are an employer who is struggling with how to retain your best employees, consider offering them paid vacation days and paid holidays.