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Tag: PTO

  • How to maximize vacation days in 2026 and enjoy more time off

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    American workers looking to maximize their paid time off (PTO) in 2026 can extend their vacation days by aligning their holiday plans with federal holidays and weekends, allowing them to take more time off. 

    Why It Matters

    On average, U.S. private-sector employees get between 11 and 18 vacation days per year, depending on how long they’ve been with the company, according to a March 2025 analysis by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

    Despite this, 2025 data from HR Daily Advisor suggests that over half of workers in the United States don’t use all their PTO, citing money issues, heavy workloads, and dedication to their jobs as reasons. 

    But skipping vacation time can lead to stress, fatigue, and burnout, according to a January 2025 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Planning PTO around federal holidays will allow U.S. workers to extend their breaks, prioritize their well-being, and enjoy more frequent holidays.

    What To Know

    Which Federal Holidays Are Happening in 2026?

    In 2026, the U.S. calendar includes 11 federal holidays:

    New Year’s Day: Thursday, January 1

    Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Monday, January 19

    Presidents’ Day: Monday, February 16

    Memorial Day: Monday, May 25

    Juneteenth National Independence Day: Friday, June 19

    Independence Day: Friday, July 3 

    Labor Day: Monday, September 7

    Columbus Day: Monday, October 12

    Veterans Day: Wednesday, November 11

    Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26

    Christmas Day: Friday, December 25

    How to Strategically Book Off PTO to Maximize Days Off for the Entire Year

    Most federal holidays take place on Mondays or Fridays, creating natural opportunities for long weekends. By combining PTO days with these holidays, employees can unlock extended vacations. 

    For example, taking days off near holidays such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 19), Memorial Day (May 25), and Thanksgiving (November 26) can turn a few PTO days into week-long trips.

    According to USA Today, it’s possible to make 18 PTO days stretch into 55 days of longer breaks in 2026. Some example combinations include:

    • Memorial Day: Take Friday, May 22, off for a four-day break, from Friday, May 22, to Monday, May 25.
    • Thanksgiving: Take select days before and after the holiday for nine days from Saturday, November 21, to Sunday, November 29.
    • Christmas: Pair days off around December 25 for another nine-day holiday, from Saturday, December 19 to Sunday, December 27.

    What People Are Saying

    Ryan Grant, lead author of the Journal of Applied Psychology study and a doctoral student in psychology at UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, said: “We think working more is better, but we actually perform better by taking care of ourselves. We need to break up these intense periods of work with intense periods of rest and recuperation.”

    Melanie Fish, vice president of global public relations for Expedia Group, said in a statement to USA Today: “Americans, unfortunately, take the gold medal for the least amount of [paid time off] used. While the average worker receives about 12 paid days off a year, more than half don’t use all of it, according to Expedia surveys. My advice to Americans is simple: plan ahead. Don’t hoard your PTO for one big trip. Instead, book a few three- to four-day escapes that align with school and office closures. Submit those PTO requests early in the year to secure the most in-demand dates and actually enjoy the time you’ve earned.”

    What Happens Next

    As federal holidays approach, flights and hotels during peak travel windows could fill up quickly, and prices might, therefore, rise, so travel experts suggest planning holidays early.

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  • 3 Steps to Turn Your Out-of-Office Reply Into a Leadership Signal

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    It’s the last half of December, and most people are focused on wrapping things up and signing off. Perhaps the last thing you’ll do is set your out-of-office email responder. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Not quite. Have you ever considered that your out-of-office responder is an opportunity to communicate and reinforce your professional identity and your leadership status? 

    This insight came up in a recent executive coaching session with a smart client. We were talking about touch points that shape her professional identity, and she mentioned a thoughtful out-of-office reply she’d seen that made her pause and think, “This says something about who they are as a leader.”  

    She’s right. An out-of-office message might seem small, but it can be a powerful way to reinforce your personal brand. If you spend a little time managing your out-of-office status, it can work for you to reinforce your professional identity, even while you’re away. Three suggestions for how to do so: 

    1. Be clear about coverage and dates. Then, be consistent. 

    Of course, you need to be specific about the dates you’ll be gone, coverage you’ve set up, and when you will return. You also need to be consistent. 

    Be consistent with your coverage. This means identifying someone to look after urgent things when you’re away, then letting them do their job. I understand how tempting it is to jump in to “help out,” but imagine how this feels to the person you’ve designated to step in for you. If your out-of-office responder says you’re away, but you’re still actively responding, then it’s confusing to everyone you work with, including your team and your customers or clients. 

    Be consistent about dates. Don’t be tempted to over-promise regarding when you’ll be able to respond! If you’re coming back on January 2, don’t promise a response on that date. You know it’s always more overwhelming when you get back than you anticipated. So don’t overpromise. Rather, under promise and over-deliver. This isn’t just communication advice. This is life advice. 

    2. Show some personality and reinforce your leadership identity. 

    This is the opportunity that many leaders overlook. Here’s what I encourage my executive coaching clients to do. First, identify which part of your personal brand or your professional identity you want to emphasize.  

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    Andrea Wojnicki

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  • Ethics: My Direct Report and Friend Wants PTO When We’re Understaffed. What Should I Say?

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    A Reddit member writes: I have an employee who was my friend before I became his boss. We’ve been good friends for more than a decade. At times, we blur the boss/employee/friend line and it makes things difficult. I have to deny his request for PTO around the holidays because others have previously been approved for the time so we won’t have coverage if I approve his and it will look like favoritism. How would you have the conversation with him?

    Minda Zetlin responds:

    You need to have a tough conversation. Not with your friend, with yourself. It sounds like he didn’t do anything different from any of your other reports. He asked for PTO around the holidays. He just made the request a little too late.

    As several who responded to your post have said, your task now is equally straightforward. Tell him the truth. You might have been able to accommodate him if he’d asked earlier, but now that others have time off already scheduled, it’s no longer possible. You won’t have enough people working those days if he goes too. This is no different from the response you’d have given to someone who wasn’t your friend.

    Unless you’re withholding pertinent information, it doesn’t sound like your friend was attempting to gain special treatment from you, or do anything other than be a straight-up employee. So based on what you’ve said, it sounds like you’re the one blurring the lines between employee, boss, and friend. He seems to be clear on the difference.

    Has he ever requested special treatment?

    This is why you need to have a serious talk with yourself before you have the conversation with him. Ask yourself if he has ever requested special treatment from you as an employee. If the answer is no, then ask yourself why you’re having so much trouble managing the boundaries between your work relationship and your friendship. Because it doesn’t sound like there’s a problem on his side.

    If he hasn’t requested or expected special treatment up till now, then it sounds like he understands the necessary distinction between your roles at work and your friendship outside work. In that case, there’s no need for a whole discussion about the appearance of favoritism. All you need to say is something like this: “I’m so sorry. I’ve already approved time off for others who asked earlier, so I can’t spare you then. I’m happy to give you time off right after the holidays if you would like.” The fact that you’re both his boss and his friend will only be a problem if you make it into one.

    Update:

    The Reddit member talked more with the friend, and learned that one of the requested days off was for a doctor’s appointment. So the friend was given that day off only. For the rest, the boss explained that there were too many projects in the works, and too many others taking time off for the friend to do so as well.

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    Minda Zetlin

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  • Why a Quarter of Employees Don’t Take Any Company-Provided PTO

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    If a sizeable portion of your workplace seems to be dragging a bit these days, there’s a good reason why many staffers may be feeling fatigued. New data indicates a full quarter of U.S. employees took no personal time off (PTO) last year to unplug from work and recharge their batteries. Meanwhile, a third of workers who did merely caught up on their sleep.

    It remains a source of astonishment in many countries — and in some cases smug superiority — that even a quarter of the way into the 21st century, the U.S. remains the only advanced economy that doesn’t guarantee a minimum number of employee vacation days. Often overlooked in that gloating is that most American employers voluntarily provide PTO and most national holidays off to their workers. In recent years, that’s allowed U.S. employees to take an average 10 and 14 days annually, according to most estimates — even if that falls well short of 42 days in France, 36 in Spain, 30 in Australia, and 25 in Canada.

    But in spite of employers’ efforts to provide paid leisure time to staff, a little more than 30 percent of the workforce still has no access to PTO. Now, new survey data from remote job listing site Flexjobs finds that nearly a quarter of employees, or 23 percent of the 3,063 people it questioned didn’t take a single day off during the last year.

    The reasons? Even though 82 percent of those respondents said their employer provided paid time off, many failed to take some or all of those days “due to heavy workloads, manager expectations, and unsupportive company cultures,” the report said.

    Concretely, 43 percent of respondents said they had too much work to take PTO days, with 30 percent saying stepping away from the office risked them falling behind tasks they’d managed to keep pace with. Nearly 30 percent of survey participants said they’d feel too guilty, or be worried about looking like a slacker by going on vacation.

    More problematic was the 19 percent of respondents who said they didn’t dare take PTO in a workplace that “clearly doesn’t support taking time off.” That pressure dissuading employees from taking an extended break from work was felt in other ways as well.

    A quarter of survey participants said their managers discouraged them from taking a full week off, resulting in 42 percent of respondents saying they’d limited total PTO they took in the last year to between one and 10 days.

    “Most employees have some form of paid time off, but there’s a big difference between a company that offers this benefit and one that actually encourages workers to use it,” said Flexjobs career expert Toni Frana in comments accompanying the survey’s results. “Without a company culture that supports rest, many workers feel they can’t really step away without risking their professional reputation.”

    Despite those concerns, it’s clear most U.S. employers aren’t mistreating their workers in Miranda Priestly’s ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ fashion.

    Eighteen percent of survey participants said they took more than 15 days of PTO during the last year, and nearly the same number stepped away from work for 11 to 15 days. That may not match the six weeks — plus 11 national holidays — employees in France get annually, but it beats the five paid days workers in Nigeria have free each year.

    So how are U.S. workers who do take PTO spending that leisure time? While a majority still take to the beach, mountains, or global tourist destinations, a recent survey of 1,200 employees by mattress company Amerisleep found over a third use vacation time to just sleep.

    Its polling found 37 percent of respondents said they’ve used PTO days primarily to catch up on their shuteye. At 43 percent Millennials were the most likely to spend time off hitting the hay, followed by 34 percent of Gen Xers, 33 percent of Gen Z, and 20 percent of Boomers.

    That PTO slumber option also has the advantage of economizing the heavy costs of gas, airfare, and lodging that more traditional vacations require. On the down side, it also virtually eliminates the opportunity to cross paths with all those French and Spanish people on perpetual holiday.

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    Bruce Crumley

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  • My Employee Lied About Meeting With a Client

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    Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues—everything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor.

    A reader asks:

    I caught my employee skipping work to nap at home when she said she was meeting with a potential client. It was total happenstance; I happened to meet the potential client at a social event that night. When I asked my employee the next day why the client had no idea who I was or what our company did, the truth came out: she hadn’t met with anyone, she’d gone home to take a break and a nap. She apologized for lying, but said she’d been feeling burned out and was struggling with seasonal depression. She is my top performer and best employee all around, and we are coming off of our busy season, so a little burnout is understandable. She volunteered that she had done something similar twice before in her six-year career with us, but I don’t know if I can trust her accounting of it — we were in a meeting about her lying, after all.

    I can’t quite determine how big of an issue this is. She lied about the meeting and who it was with, and she was likely prepared to lie about how it went, if I hadn’t caught her before we had a chance to debrief. We meet with a lot of potential clients, many of whom never pan out, so I don’t know how I can trust her going forward when she says she has one of these meetings. But, on the other hand, she is consistently our best performer and doesn’t just meet her goals — she exceeds them. If she’s able to do that while occasionally taking siestas, is it really my business? But if she’s lying about where she is … Ugh, this is the loop I’ve been in for two days. Help!

    (Perhaps helpful: we have good, but not exceptional, PTO. It’s not a culture where people take much time off, though I frequently encourage my team to take as much time as they need. This employee takes time off for doctors appointments and vacations, so I know she’s aware of the policy.)

    Green responds:

    I think the reason you feel stuck is because you need to have another conversation with your employee in order to fully understand the situation. Since she’s your top performer, it’s worth taking the time to fully understand what happened and why. Why did she lie about having a meeting rather than just taking a few hours off to go home? What’s going on that made her feel “I’m under the weather and heading out early today,” wasn’t an option, and that concocting a highly specific lie about a prospective client was a better choice?

    Because this wasn’t just a vague lie (not that that would be okay either). This was “I am meeting with Specific Person X from Specific Company Y” and I suspect you’re right that she would have lied about how it went if she hadn’t been caught — which means that she would have given you false client data! If she told you the person wasn’t interested, that’s a prospective client you’d then presumably cross off your list. That’s a big deal.

    So what’s going on? Did she lie because your work culture made her feel she couldn’t get the break she needed any other way? Is she out of PTO or saving it for a health need down the road? Or does she not see lying as a big deal as long as no one finds out about it?

    Each of those requires a different response from you. If the culture around PTO is what caused this, this is a sign that you’ve got some serious work to do on this aspect of the culture, considering what it drove your best performer to. If it’s a PTO scarcity issue, then it’s worth looking at whether there’s other support you can offer her (either with time off or with workload) so she can take care of herself and not burn out.

    Those might sound like overly soft responses to a serious trust violation — but context matters. If something in your culture is driving your best employee to this, or if she’s struggling personally, you want to address what’s really going on. That doesn’t mean you’d give the lying a complete pass; you wouldn’t. You’d still have a serious conversation about how this has affected your ability to take her at her word, and what that means in practical terms. (For example, at least for a while you probably need to do more verifying and spot-checking of things you previously trusted her on implicitly.)  But when you’re dealing with someone who’s been outstanding up until now, you should factor in context too, not use a black-and-white, no-nuances approach.

    On the other hand, if she doesn’t think casual lying is a big deal, that means that she’s probably been less than straight with you other times too, beyond the times she just confessed to, and she’ll probably do it again when it makes her life easier, and she might be cutting other corners you don’t know about. And if that’s the case, you’ve got to take a fresh look at your entire assessment of her approach to work.

    But I don’t think you can sort through this without a better understanding of how she ended up here.

    Want to submit a question of your own? Send it to alison@askamanager.org.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Alison Green

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  • Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Biggest Battle Is Game Store Crashes

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    After years of anticipation (no, really), the Hollow Knight sequel finally sings its way to the surface on September 4. Silksong was first announced in 2019, and after sporadic details and development promises, the DLC-turned-full-release was given a formal release date just two weeks ago — causing mayhem like the Eras Tour movie for other game releases. The indie game sequel follows Hornet, a former princess introduced in the first game, as she explores the new land of Pharloom with similar fighting mechanics to the original game, as well as the newly added quests. You can pinch yourself to check if you’re not dreaming; you can finally download the game after a years long wait— well, sort of.

    Despite being released on multiple platforms, the $20 game was hard to play on launch. The game’s Steam page crashed several hours into its release; gamers have also reported crashes from the Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store (including game pass downloads). However, plenty of players made it through the hell of the crashes, as it’s currently the most purchased game and the third most played game of the day on Steam, with over 400,000 concurrent players. Even if you have no plans to play the game, you might still be affected by its passionate fan base. Young Horses, creators of the hit game Octodad, are “delaying” their work until later this month so they have time to play the game. Surely, there are plenty of other gamers who are having slightly less productive work days because of Hornet; they probably just aren’t as upfront about it.

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    Alejandra Gularte

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  • Start Packing for Your Vacation at the Pokémon Concierge

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    Get ready, trainers, for the biggest battle of your life: deciding between a mojito or a margarita (or a lemonade if you’re by the vending machine). Pokèmon Concierge, a slice-of-life animated series that follows Haru (Karen Fukuhara for the English version) and her Psyduck working at a resort for Pokémon, returns for its second season this week. Directed by Iku Ogawa with a screenplay by Harumi Doki, the stop motion series will release four more new episodes with Netflix; unfortunately, they did not learn that we need way more episodes to satisfy Poké nerds— give us at least 6! The only problems on the island are figuring out how to give the Pokémon the best day ever — well, until your ex-boyfriend shows up. Here’s how you can book your ticket to the Pokémon resort.

    Pokémon Concierge lands on Netflix this Friday, September 4, with four new episodes.

    The most important question. Plenty of Poké friends are taking the ferry over for some relaxation. Based on the trailer, it looks like Shinx and Luxray get a tour of the island from Haru and Psyduck. As for new arrivals, Hoppip, Skiploom, and Bulbasaur get a warm welcome right off the ferry. While enjoying all the amenities, Sealeo gives Bellsprout and Dedenne a ride on the water (DEDENNE PLEASE DON’T FALL!!!). It looks like Brett even got some helpers this season from Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour — even if they’re fooling around on the job. But the biggest surprise of them all was Haru’s ex-boyfriend Kent, who shows up at the resort — exes always show up when you’re doing well, don’t they?

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    Alejandra Gularte

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  • How to Set Boundaries and Take a Break | Entrepreneur

    How to Set Boundaries and Take a Break | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s all too easy to stay on call and available 24/7/365 when you’re one of the company’s top executives. Good leaders want to make themselves accessible, but good leaders also know it’s essential to take breaks regularly — and to take a vacation at least once a year. It’s essential if you’re self-employed or a freelancer too. Taking a break now and then helps keep your business from taking over your entire life.

    What’s more, vacation-positive workplace culture is good for business. Encouraging employees to take vacations helps improve their productivity, reduces job dissatisfaction and raises employee engagement. Work-life balance might seem elusive, but it’ll help you reduce a high turnover rate and the costs associated with it. It’s an essential part of a productive, supportive work environment.

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    John Boitnott

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  • LearningRx – Reviews 10 Ways Parents Can Partner With Teachers

    LearningRx – Reviews 10 Ways Parents Can Partner With Teachers

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    Brain Training company LearningRx shares tip on how parents can partner with teachers at learningrxblog.com

    Press Release
    –

    Aug 16, 2016


    Colorado Springs, CO, August 16, 2016 (Newswire.com)
    –
    ​​​​One-on-one brain training company LearningRx is sharing a list of 10 ways parents can partner with teachers. Here are a few from the list:

    1. Offer to help at home. Not everyone can volunteer in the classroom. Parents work, stay home with younger children, take care of sick or elderly family members, or live too far away to make multiple trips to school. But many teachers have things that can be done at home instead. “I have sorted and stapled piles of papers, cut out materials, done online research and sorted art materials into plastic baggies for a craft project,” says one mother of two. If you can spare even an hour a week, ask your child’s teachers what you can do at home to help with materials for the classroom.

    I love the tip about how any parent who donates funds to help a classroom can double their money!

    Tanya Mitchell, Mom of four school-aged kids

    2. Share good deals. Even if you can’t afford to buy a ton of extra school supplies for the classroom, you can share extra-special deals that you run across. “I make a list of businesses that are offering freebies during Teacher Appreciation Week and give them to my kids’ teachers,” says one mom. “It doesn’t cost me anything and they love knowing about places like Chipotle and Chick-fil-A that offer freebies or BOGO deals.” Sites like Donors Choose and Fund My Classroom let teachers in high-needs communities post requests for financial assistance for specific projects, equipment, field trips and events. “I would donate $25 and then use a promo code I’d find online to get a matching the donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, so the teacher would instead get $50 toward her project,” says another mom. “Then I’d share the code with the teacher and other parents, so any parent in the class who donated funds could double their money.”

    3. Donate supplies. Time magazine reports that teachers spent, on average, $500 of their own money on classroom supplies. If you have contacts at stores or large companies, ask if they can donate supplies. (Some schools will even supply you with their tax ID number in order for the company to get a write-off.) You can also check yard sales and thrift shops to pick up cheap deals, or ask the teacher to create a list of classroom “needs” and “wants” that you can offer to copy and share with other parents.

    To see the full list, visit: http://media.learningrx.com/files/2016/08/PrintablePartnerWithTeacher-copy.pdf

    LearningRx, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the largest one-on-one brain training organization in the world. With 80 Centers in the U.S., and locations in 40 countries around the globe, LearningRx has helped more than 95,000 individuals and families sharpen their cognitive skills to help them think faster, learn easier, and perform better. Their on-site programs partner every client with a personal brain trainer to keep clients engaged, accountable, and on-task — a key advantage over online-only brain exercises. Their pioneering methods have been used in clinical settings for 35 years and have been verified as beneficial in peer-reviewed research papers and journals. To learn more about LearningRx research results, programs, and their 9.6 out of 10 client satisfaction rating visit http://www.learningrx.com/.    

    Source: LearningRx

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