Majority of workers feel uneasy taking time off, survey shows

Even with accrued paid time off, 59% of U.S. workers said they feel anxiety about taking time off from work, according to a July 9 report from LiveCareer.

Workers pointed to an unhealthy work culture as the major factor for their hesitance to take time off. A third of employees said they felt pressure not to use all of their PTO, and 9% said their employer actively discourages time off.

“Employees need more than a policy that allows for time off; they need systems, support and security that make it feel possible,” Toni Frana, a career expert and writer for LiveCareer, wrote in the report. “Building a healthy PTO culture means addressing the practical and emotional barriers that keep people from stepping away.”

In the survey of more than 1,000 U.S. workers, most also said they feel anxious about taking time off due to concerns about work piling up, missing out on opportunities and being thought of as less committed.

Nearly half of employees said their company supports vacation but that unmanageable workloads make it difficult to use PTO. Twenty percent, meanwhile, said they’re less likely to take time off when their manager or leaders rarely do.

Overall, 45% of workers said they have PTO packages of two weeks or longer, but 80% said their planned summer vacation was much shorter — typically a week or less.

To feel more confident taking time off, employees said they’d like to have better financial stability, more PTO, backup or coverage for their work, mental health days included in their benefits, supportive managers and leaders, less fear of layoffs and clearer company policies around time off.