- Key insight: Discover how employer policies and leadership modeling materially affect employee disconnect and PTO efficacy.
- What's at stake: Reduced genuine time-off risks burnout, productivity declines and higher attrition costs.
- Supporting data: Complete disconnect during vacation fell from 47% (2023) to 37% (2025), Dayforce.
Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
With spring-break season upon us and summer fast approaching, employees are mapping out their
Taking
"[We] can't show up and be refreshed, productive and synergized about [our] work when [we're] depleted," says Jessica Grossmeier, an award-winning researcher, speaker and adviser on workplace well-being. "That's why we need encouragement from our organizations and our leadership to be able to actually turn off the phone, unplug and take the holiday that we need."
Read more: 6 questions that help leaders connect with their team
Tools that help people disconnect
To help workers disengage while on PTO, organizations should trim down tech distractions. Employees should be encouraged to update work communication accounts like email and Slack with "out-of-office" or "away" messages that include a return date and emergency contact if necessary. On a recent vacation, Grossmeier discovered this tactic even works on social media.
"You can put automatic responses in most applications now," she says. "Anytime I'm out there telling people I am off the grid [and] not responding to phone calls, texts, or emails, it set an example for other people: 'You can do this, [and] it's okay.' [Leaders] have to role model."
Read more:
Grossmeier also recommends letting employees establish their own boundaries. They can then share their PTO plan with their boss, team members and clients so everyone is on the same page.
"We as leaders, as organizations, can be having those conversations with our teams, saying, 'Figure out what works for you. Just make sure [to] communicate it, and then let's help one another protect that time.'"
More vacation-friendly benefits
Benefit leaders should remind employees about specific offerings that can help them enjoy PTO, such as financial wellness benefits that can help them save up for expenses. Reminders to use HSA and FSA accounts to cover sun-friendly purchases like sunscreen and SPF lip balm, or eligible
Read more:
With the collective support of benefits, organizational policies and leadership encouragement, employees can feel good about stepping away from work, and employers reap the reward of a healthier, more engaged workforce.
The message from organizations to employees should be clear, Grossmeier says: "If you're going to take the time off [and] invest in a vacation, get all the value out of that [that you can]." When companies truly let people disconnect, "it allows them to come back to work feeling more appreciative, more grateful and more energized."
Read more about how companies are successfully managing PTO:
