With summer holidays tantalizingly close on the calendar, The Globe wants to know: Have you ever put off, or entirely forfeited, your paid vacation days? Why did you feel you couldn’t use your allotted time off?
For a sobering picture of work, rest and leisure in Canada, look no further than a March, 2026, survey from recruitment firm Robert Half, which found 40 per cent of respondents didn’t use up all of their paid time off last year.
While 60 per cent of these employees said they were squirrelling their days off for “a later absence,” nearly a third worried that their workloads would pile up too high while they were gone. And that this backlog would only intensify their burnout, killing those vacation vibes. More than a quarter said they didn’t have any backup support for their role and felt they couldn’t get away.
Sneaky workplace optics also played a role here. About 11 per cent feared that taking a holiday could hinder career opportunities; 9 per cent fretted about getting side-eye from their colleagues. And 5 per cent said a boss or their team actively discouraged them from taking their vacation days. (One can’t imagine retention being high at workplaces embracing holiday-shaming.)
And then there’s the contented vacation skipper: A handful of respondents said they didn’t use up all their paid time off last year because they hate missing work. Or they enjoy their job so much, they didn’t feel they needed a break. Sound familiar, or completely foreign? Either way, the survey points to people’s deeply personal decision-making around work and leisure.
At the same time, those studying mental health say holidays are serious business and caution that leaving vacation days behind accelerates burnout and stifles creativity in the workplace. Notably, the survey found 62 per cent of professionals now feel burned out at work, a leap from 47 per cent in late 2024.
As The Globe’s time use reporter, I want to hear from you – the people who’ve put off or forfeited their annual paid time off. Why did you feel you had to skip your holidays, even if they’re set aside and paid for by the employer? How does putting off vacations affect your career and life outside of work?
If you’d like to speak for the story this week, please e-mail me at: zbielski@globeandmail.com or share your thoughts in the box below.
Have you ever put off your vacation days? Tell us why
A survey found that 40 per cent of respondents didn’t use up all of their paid time off last year. For a future Globe story, we want to hear from the people who’ve put off or forfeited their annual paid time off. Why did you feel you had to skip your holidays, even if they’re set aside and paid for by the company? What’s the effect on your career, and on life outside of work? Share your thoughts in the box below, or send an e-mail to zbielski@globeandmail.com.
