Human Resources: U.S. Employees Pack Their Bags for a Summer Vacation

Kansas City, Kan. – As the weather heats up, many employees are packing their bags for a summer vacation. According to the newly-released Compensation Data 2007 preliminary results, exempt employees with five to nine years of experience have 14.4 vacation days on average. Non-exempt employees with the same years of service have 13.8 days.

The number of vacation days offered to exempt employees has changed little since 2005. Those in their first year average eight days and then, are given 10.5 days after their first year. Workers with 15-19 years of service typically average 19.5 days. A recent study by Expedia.com revealed 35 percent of U.S. employees won’t utilize all of their vacation time, and on average, each will leave three days unused.

Compensation Data 2007 also reported 56.4 percent of companies allow carryover of vacation days, and 86.9 percent place a cap on the number of days that can be carried over. The maximum number of days allowed for exempt employees is 18.5 days, compared to 17.8 for non-exempt.

"As Gen Y enters the work force, many companies are looking for new ways to recruit top talent," said Amy Kaminski, manager of marketing programs for Compdata Surveys, the nation’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. "Offering extra vacation time in the recruiting process and allowing flexible schedules are two practices that appeal to this group."

In 2007, extra vacation time was offered as a recruiting tactic by 15.4 percent of organizations, which has risen from 13.7 percent in 2006. Flexible schedules are another way organizations can bolster time off packages. According to the new results, 54.3 percent of companies allow flexible schedules. When comparing prevalence among employee groups, they are most used by technical/professional employees, 41.2 percent.

About the Survey
Compensation Data 2007 contains data on 539 job titles ranging from entry-level to top executives. Annually, more than 5,000 organizations participate in the survey. The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefits information and pay practices with an effective date of March 1, 2007.

Compdata Surveys is the nation’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Compdata Surveys has been providing accurate, reliable data at affordable prices to organizations from coast to coast since 1988. For further information about the compensation and benefits surveys, contact Lane Lyons at (800) 300-9570 or llyons[at]compdatasurveys.com.

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