How To Negotiate For More Vacation Time
How To Negotiate For More Vacation Time: It’s almost the end of the fourth quarter, and either you have extra days that need to be used, or your paid time off is running low.
How American workers handle their paid time off is different: A study from the Pew Research Center in August 2023 says that 46% of workers use only some of their vacation days. Among higher-earners, that number jumps to 51%.
But now is the time to ask for more paid time off if you want to go on a long trip, see more of Europe, or fix up your house.
Trevor Bogan is the Regional Director of the Top Employers Institute in North America. He has more than 20 years of experience hiring people and stresses how important it is to negotiate paid time off.
He makes it clear that vacation time is a variable part of pay, just like income. Studies also show that holidays can improve your health by lowering your risk of heart disease and stroke, so it’s a good idea to get those extra days off.
How to Negotiate More Vacation Time
People need to remember to talk about this, but it’s a good idea to talk about increasing your holiday pay. Your vacation time is an important part of your pay that can be changed, just like your salary. Researchers have found that taking vacations can greatly lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, so those extra days off are very important.
Shonna Waters, Vice President of Executive Advisory at BetterUp, a company that specializes in behavioral career coaching, says that the current labor crisis in the United States gives workers a good chance to discuss both pay and benefits.
Harvard Business Review says that before you start bargaining, you should find out how much vacation time people at your company and your level usually get.
Talk to coworkers in your professional network, especially if you work closely with them, and think they can tell you about your company’s usual vacation policy. It’s also okay to ask for some time to really think about a job offer. This gives you a chance to have smart conversations about perks like paid time off.
How to Negotiate for More Vacation Days
Because of the epidemic, vacations were not just a want; they were a need. Our personal and work lives became one, and our homes became offices. Since the event, a lot of people have made big changes in their careers, either by quitting their jobs, switching fields, or starting new ones.
The US Census Bureau says that the number of people working from home has tripled since 2019. One thing that has yet to change is how few vacation days a lot of us really have. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that after a year of working for the same company, the average American gets 10 to 14 paid vacation days.
That, on the other hand, is three times the rate in Europe. In spite of this, there are ways to make the most of the time you have off now. A lot of people think that the only thing you can negotiate in a full-time job with perks is pay.
But you can also negotiate for more paid time off (PTO). This is a step-by-step guide on how to get the most out of your PTO talks at your current or next job.
How to Ask Your Boss for More Vacation Time
It’s important to be happy at work; ideally, you should love or at least value what you do. A satisfying job will make you happy, which is something I hope you already have or are well on your way to getting. No matter how much you enjoy your job or how well it fits with your plan, you should know how to ask for more time off.
The United States has always been behind many other countries when it comes to paid leave time. Some countries give full-time workers paid time off for up to thirty days a year. In the US, however, workers usually only get ten days off, or two weeks for every fifty weeks they work, and even that is only sometimes promised.
Because vacation time has been denied for so long, there is now a mindset of “fear” around taking time off from work. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the US is always one of the most tense, angry, and worried places in the world.
How to Negotiate for More Vacation Time at Work
Having more paid time off during the summer gives you more chances to relax and do your best things with your family. Science research backs up how important vacations are for getting more done. In spite of this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that after a year of work, the average American only gets ten paid days off a year. There needs to be more time off for one day a month.
There are, however, a number of ways to negotiate for more paid time off, both when you’re looking for work and when you have a job.
If you’re looking for a job, showing potential companies that you’re a high ROI candidate will help you get offers that are both enjoyable and come with lots of great perks. You can do this by putting more emphasis on your accomplishments and efforts in your resume.
As soon as you get a job offer, it would help if you talked about pay and perks. This is especially important if you want to get more paid time off. In order to get you to accept the offer, this is usually the point at which businesses are most willing to do what you want.
HOW TO NEGOTIATE BENEFITS DURING THE HIRING PROCESS
During the hiring process, it is common for highly skilled people who are in high demand to haggle. This means that they might lose out on benefits and pay. If you don’t want to deal, you might come off as desperate. It’s important to know that the person in charge of hiring is one of your most important allies in this process.
The hiring manager is eager to bring you on board at the offer stage so that you can help the company. During the hiring process, if you were honest and polite and made reasonable requests, your new boss will likely talk to HR on your behalf.
Someone has already offered you a job, which gives you a lot of power. The easiest and most effective way to do this is to show how excited you are about the job while making them worry about the starting pay.
Back up your claims with real, believable proof, like the standard rate for experts with the same level of training or experience as you. Stress the good things you can do for the company.
Before you start talking, you should have a rough idea of how much it will cost. Next, ask the potential boss to give you their budget so you can compare what you want with what the company can afford.
Can you negotiate more vacation days?
Here’s something not enough of us consider — you’re allowed to negotiate for more vacation time. Vacation time, just like your salary, is a form of compensation that can be adjusted.
Getting time off for vacation lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes, so giving up some time off is a big deal. Because there aren’t enough workers in the US, Shonna Waters, vice president of executive advisory at BetterUp, a behavioral job coaching company, says that workers now have a chance to negotiate their pay packages, which include salary and benefits.
If you want to go on holiday without giving up time off, Waters suggests looking at other benefits, such as flexible work schedules or ways to work from home, if you can’t add more vacation time. You could also negotiate for the chance to work from home at certain times of the day.
The Harvard Business Review suggests finding out what the norms are for vacation time in your industry and talking to professional contacts to find out what the norms are for time off at your company before starting any talks.
How can I increase my vacation hours?
Know the best times to ask for more vacation time:
1.During an annual review.
2.When receiving a promotion.
3.Have a specific ask.
4.Have data to back up your ask.
5.Be prepared for a “no” and have follow-up questions ready for each of the reasons your request might be denied.
6.Get it in writing.
Americans usually get ten days of paid leave after working for a year. Australians and Germans, on the other hand, get 20 days of paid vacation every year, but British workers are only legally allowed 5.6 weeks. It’s wild that half of American workers don’t use their holiday days.
That’s more than 700 million days a year when they don’t do anything. It is very important not to become part of this figure. Taking time off for fun is good for your mental health, whether you go on a trip with family or friends or stay home and avoid electronics.
What if you get a new job that doesn’t allow you to travel as much or gives you less time off? You can ask for more holiday time, either when you first start working for the company or at different times as you move up in the company. Use these strategies to get more time off for vacation.
How do I negotiate more vacation time email?
I really enjoy working here, but additional time off would keep me happier and more productive at this company. Would you be open to giving me an additional [X amount] of vacation per year in recognition of the hard work I’ve been doing and the value I’ve been adding to our team?
If you’re passionate about your job and don’t feel like you’re really working, you need to know how to ask for more leave time. The United States has been behind many other countries for a long time when it comes to paid vacation time.
Other countries give full-time workers up to a month’s worth of paid time off (20–30 days), but the US only gives about ten days, or two weeks, for every fifty weeks of work, and that’s not even a promise. A mindset of fear around time away from work has grown because vacation time isn’t allocated enough.
So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the US is always one of the most tense, angry, and worried places in the world. Still, American holiday culture has slowly gotten better over the past few years.
Beginning in 2015, companies have slowly been giving their employees more vacation time each year. Most Americans are using their extra vacation days.
Should I ask for more vacation days?
Ideally, wait until your formal review (if you have one) to bring up the idea of getting more vacation days. It’s also a good idea to wait to ask until you’ve been at the company for at least a year. This way, your boss has a good sense of your work ability and ethic, which should (theoretically) act in your favor.
Along with pay raises, more leave time is often listed as one of the best things about having a job. A simple reason for this is that workers who have more free time and rest are generally happier, healthier, and more productive at work.
But what should you do to ask your boss for more leave time? Keep in mind that the best time to negotiate for more days off is right now when you are looking over your total pay deal and have just been offered the job.
At this point, you can talk about your pay, sick leave, and vacation time, so now is a great time to say how many paid days off you want. But it’s still a good idea to talk to your bosses about it after that time has passed. Before talking to your boss about it, make sure you know a lot about it.
It would help if you did the same thing before asking for a pay raise as you would before asking for more leave time.
How many vacation days do most companies offer?
The average American worker gets 11 days of paid vacation per year. In the private sector, the average number of paid vacation days after five years of service increases to 15 days.
In the United States, small businesses are not forced to give their workers paid time off (5 days). You can choose to give it to them, which could be good for them. People with paid time off (PTO) can take time off from their jobs, which helps them avoid burnout and boost mood and output.
Knowing a lot about PTO data can help you make a PTO policy that works for your business by showing you how much time off people usually take in the US and other countries.
Interestingly, the US is the only developed country where workers don’t get paid for vacation and holiday days. Because of this uncertainty, employees may not take breaks for long amounts of time, which could hurt their overall physical and mental health as well as their work-life balance.
PTO availability often changes based on the type of work and business. People whose jobs involve more work behind the scenes could get more paid time off (PTO) than people whose jobs involve more direct client contact. If you know about these factors, it may be easier to change PTO rules to meet the needs of your staff.
Because of the need for more workers in the US right now, Shonna Waters, vice president of executive advice at BetterUp, a company that helps people with their careers, says that employees rarely get the chance to negotiate for pay and perks.
Harvard Business Review says that before you start talking, you should find out how much leave time is given to people at your company and at your level. Talk to people in your network and coworkers at work to find out about vacation rules.
It would help if you also asked for some time to think about the job offer before bringing these problems up. For more information, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has data on paid vacation days, such as averages for different industries, company size distributions, and employee tenure. As you think about your choices, think about how much extra vacation time you can fit in.
