Paid vacation is part of your pay, so every day you let expire under a use-it-or-lose-it policy is pay you lose. Check how many of your days carry over, then book the rest before they expire. Next year, put your time off on the calendar early.
In Eagle Hill Consulting’s 2024 Worker Vacation Survey, conducted by Ipsos, 48% of U.S. workers expected to finish the year with vacation days left. If your policy runs on the calendar year, any day that doesn’t carry over is gone after Dec. 31.
On a $65,000 salary paid over 260 workdays a year (52 weeks of five days), each day is worth $250, so losing five days means giving back $1,250 you already earned.
Start with your policy’s rules. Find out how many days carry over, whether there’s a cap on how many you can build up, and whether unused days are paid out when your job ends. State law can override your policy. In California, a use-it-or-lose-it policy is illegal, the state’s Labor Commissioner says, and earned vacation must be paid out when your job ends unless a union contract says otherwise. Employers there can still cap your balance, and once you hit the cap you stop earning more.
Then book the days you’d lose and put them on the team calendar, so coworkers can plan around them. A day off doesn’t have to be a trip. Cost was the obstacle workers named most often in Eagle Hill’s survey, at 44%, but a paid day off at home costs nothing. Next year, book your time off at the start of the year, before busy seasons fill your schedule.
Before your days off start, hand off your work. Tell a coworker what’s due while you’re out, and set an out-of-office message that says when you’re back and who to contact instead. Your team can then handle what comes up, and you can stay off work email the whole time.
This week, open your HR or payroll portal, check your balance against your carryover limit, and book every day over that limit before your balance resets.
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