With spring break season here and summer just around the corner, are you encouraging employees to use their vacation days?

Allowing time off is a good business decision.  I would even go further than simply encouraging employees to take time off; I’d also make sure your policy doesn’t allow vacation days to roll over from year to year. I’m not in the majority, though – the January issue of HR Magazine said over 60% of organizations let employees roll over a portion of unused days.

I think the majority needs to change.

There are so many reasons why time off can help your business, and allowing employees to roll over time makes it too easy for them to delay.  If employees don’t use even the time they have for one year, 10 days for example, the chances are slim that they’d take even more days the next year.  Americans leave tons of vacation days on the table every year.

Time off is also an excellent time to increase the flexibility of your staff and cross-train someone to fill in for your employee on vacation.

What is your organization’s perspective on employees taking vacation time?  Do you make it too easy for your employees to delay by allowing them to roll over their days?

Consider adjusting your policy.  In my mind, there are no negatives to employees using vacation days every year.  It can increase morale, positively affect performance, and decrease health care costs.