Employee Health Screening

The problem of presenteeism â.” personnel showing up at work but taking a “mental vacation day” â.” isn’t going away any time soon.

A recent survey found the average staff member has three unused vacation days after the year. But 33% admit that they sometimes take “unofficial” vacation days of a half-day or more.

Not surprisingly, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve day and December 26 rank one of the highest “presentee” days among corporations (especially in the white-collar realm) that remain open on those days.

In terms of the expanded question of presenteeism, what’s keeping individuals  from using their vacation time as it’s intended?  Top answers -

o  supervisors frown on staff taking vacation time

o  There’s too much work to make up after using vacation time, and

o  individuals  want to “reserve” time in case of an emergency.

On the flip side, many folks who take vacation time have trouble leaving work behind. One worker in four admits to checking work e-mail and/or voicemail while on vacation.

And 29% say they have trouble forgetting about work-related stress, even when they’re using compensated time off.

Among all industrialized nations, United States workforce receive the fewest yearly vacation days â.” 14 on average.