Feeling buried by work , like you ca n't find time for a few days off , like your entire work-life balance is out of whack ? If you 're an American worker , it just might be . A new study has found that U.S. workers forfeited $ 52.4 billion in time-off benefits in 2013 and took less vacation time than at any point in the past four decades . American workers turned their backs on a total of 169 million days of paid time off , in effect `` providing free labor for their employers , at an average of $ 504 per employee , '' according to the study . Titled `` All Work and No Pay : The Impact of Forfeited Time Off , '' the study was conducted by Oxford Economics for the U.S. Travel Association 's Travel Effect Initiative , which studies the impact of forgone vacation time . `` Americans are work martyrs , '' says the U.S. Travel Association . `` Tied to the office , they leave more and more paid time off unused each year , forfeiting their earned benefits and , in essence , work for free . '' According to the study , in 2013 U.S. employees took an average of 16 days of vacation , compared with an average of 20.3 days as recently as 2000 . `` The economic potential of returning to the pre-2000 vacation patterns is massive : annual vacation days taken by U.S. employees would jump 27 % ( or 768 million days ) , delivering a $ 284 billion impact across the entire U.S. economy , '' according to the travel association . Based in Washington , the association is a national nonprofit organization representing all components of the travel industry . Does this describe you ? Productivity and stress management trainer and coach Joe Robinson says the issue is driven by a number of factors . `` One , workers are afraid to take their vacations in the layoff era , '' Robinson said . `` It might mark them as less 'committed ' than coworkers . `` It 's called defensive overworking . They work long hours and skip vacations to insulate themselves from cutbacks . '' According to Roger Dow , president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association , 28 % of workers surveyed said they 've declined to take earned days off in order to illustrate their dedication to the job . `` They say , ' I do n't want to be seen as a slacker , ' `` Dow said. `` ' I want to be seen as someone who is really dedicated . ' `` But it does them no good whatsoever . People who take more time off tend to get more raises and promotions . '' `` It 's futile , '' Robinson agreed . `` People who do n't take their vacations get laid off just like everyone else . '' Work force cutbacks and `` device addiction '' are other factors . `` Lean staffing , with more and more people doing the jobs of several people , makes it hard to escape , '' Robinson said . `` They 're not taking vacations because they have too much work . '' `` About 40 % ( of workers surveyed ) say they 're afraid of all the work they 're going to get to when they get back from vacation , '' Dow said . `` Work pileup scares the hell out of them . '' `` Another big reason people are n't taking their time is that they are caught up in 'busyness ' and device addiction , '' Robinson said . `` Finally , many people are so caught up in the performance identity , worth based on what they get done , they feel guilty when they step back . '' Reversing the trend ? A number of studies show that fewer vacation days can , perhaps counterintuitively , lead to decreased productivity . Researcher Mark Rosekind of Alertness Solutions has found that the respite effect of a vacation can increase performance by 80 % . Reaction times of returning vacationers increased 40 % in his study . According to Dow , some U.S. companies , particularly on the West Coast , are beginning to overhaul their vacation policies . `` We 're seeing multiple companies -- Expedia and Netflix and others -- that are doing away with their vacation policies entirely , '' Dow said . `` They 've just said , 'We no longer have a vacation policy ; please discuss with your boss and take the time off you need . ' `` In addition , companies that have instituted `` use it or lose it '' policies -- which do n't allow annual vacation time to be rolled over to the next year or accrued for later use -- find that more employees take all of their earned leave . Dow reports that some companies and organizations , including the U.S. Travel Association , have begun giving bonuses to employees who use their entire allotment of paid leave . Perhaps these companies have become convinced by a growing body of research supporting the long-term bottom-line benefits of time away from work . Author of the books `` Work to Live '' and `` Do n't Miss Your Life , '' Robinson is also the author of a current Entrepreneur magazine story titled `` The Secret to Increased Productivity : Taking Time Off , '' in which he states that `` working without letup is a bad habit that can jeopardize business , health and the life you 're supposedly working toward . '' Have you forfeited earned time off ? Are you satisfied with the time you get away from work ? Share your work experiences in the comments ?
Study finds Washington workers forfeited 504 in time-off benefits in 2013 . In 2013 , they took average of 2000 , compared with One in 16 vacation days . With more people doing jobs of fewer people , many have too much work , says consultant .