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| Employee Health & Wellness |
| Take a Vacation! You need your employees to take some time off |
While everyone is extremely busy, now is a good time to take a look at your payroll records and be sure that everyone in the company is taking advantage of vacation time. “No way,” you say. “There’s a recession on. We’re on a tight budget and we’d rather not pay people for work they don’t do.” There are some compelling reasons to encourage, and even to require employees to take time off, however. Here are just a few:
Health Risks
A 20-year study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control has found a link between a lack of vacations and higher risk of heart attack and death.1 While common sense tells us all work and no play is dangerous, an increasing number of scientific data proves it. Executives who create a corporate culture of “how dare you take a vacation at a time like this,” are short-sighted at best and are endangering their employees’ health at worst.
No time for vacation = poor management practices
Rumor has it that the “secret formula” for a popular cola drink is such a closely-kept secret that only two executives in the company know what it is, and neither of those two executives ever travel on the same airplane flight (thus eliminating the possibility that both of them might die at the same time and be unable to pass the secret on).
This cola bottling company has discovered a truth that many small business owners have missed: If there is any employee in your company who is so essential to the day-to-day processes of your company that you simply could not function without them, you have a significant risk management problem that needs to be addressed. In other words, good management practices require that no employee is ever “indispensable.” Giving your essential employees time off helps you discover your areas of weakness before a crisis.
In addition, employees need the reassurance that they won’t take a week off only to come back and find a week’s worth of work waiting in their in-box. Whether you use temporary staff, employ cross-training techniques, ask other employees to stand in, or simply require less work, good management means that no employee should face the prospect of avoiding a vacation simply because the burden of preparing beforehand or catching up afterwards makes the vacation “not worth it.”
Uncover fraud and dishonesty
On rare occasions, employees who are hesitant to use their time off have a reason for being “indispensable:” They have “under-the-table” dealings in the works that might be uncovered by stand-in co-worker. Be suspicious of any employee who refuses to take time off. Your employee handbook could specify the fact that the employer reserves the right to require employees to take time off.
Vacation time-off usually benefits the company more than it costs
"Sometimes you need to walk away for 10 days or two weeks to see all the things you've done right and all the things you've done wrong. It's necessary to give you that feeling that it was all worth doing," says Doug Fineberg, an attorney.2 Maybe the vacations will produce the “mental clarity” that will help your employees envision ways to make your company even more profitable. And we could all use a little inspiration in this economy!
1. “Vacation Time—Here and Now” Business and Legal Reports. http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/workfamily/20010412-workfamily.html
2. Shellenbarger, Sue. “Canceling a Vacation Could Cost You Dearly.” Wall Street Journal Online. http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/workfamily/20010412-workfamily.html
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