Last updated on June 6, 2025
Mandatory Vacation Policies: A Guide for HR Professionals
Forcing employees to take time off might feel silly or unnecessary. But trust us, that’s not at all the case!
A 2023 study surveying over 5000 Americans discovered that 46% of employees don’t take all their vacation days. Meanwhile, research by SHRM shows that 44% of US employees are feeling burnt out at work.
Notice a trend?
As an HR manager, it’s important to ensure your team is satisfied with their role and working environment. If you’re struggling to improve the culture in your workplace and encourage wellness, then a mandatory vacation policy might be right for your organization.
Keep reading to learn all about compulsory leave and its benefits and challenges.
What is a Mandatory Vacation Policy?
Usually, staff members receive a certain amount of paid and unpaid time off they can use as they please, as long as they stick to the predefined rules. This is what we call a regular PTO policy.
Mandatory vacation policies are different because they propose a minimum number of days off employees must take each year.
These policies, along with how much leave is provided, differ depending on the legislation in each region. Understanding annual leave around the world can provide valuable insights and best practices for PTO in your company.
So, how does mandatory leave work?
Compulsory PTO policies outline conditions and guidelines for time off that employees must use within a certain timeframe. Employees have to schedule their vacation time. Otherwise, the company will do it for them.
For example, if your two weeks of vacation are coming close to expiry, you may get a notice from your HR team or manager informing you that they will be automatically scheduled if you do not request leave by a certain date.
Imagine that: A boss asking employees to take time off. Sounds unbelievable, right? 🤨
Well, it turns out there are plenty of advantages for everyone.
Benefits of Mandatory Vacation Policies
You may wonder why some employers would go as far as to banish people from work (and pay them for it!) when there’s not even a federal law that requires employers to provide any time off.
Well, mandatory PTO policies have many benefits for both employees and companies that create them:
Reducing Burnout and Promoting Employee Wellness
Burnout can sneak up on everyone if they’re not in touch with their inner needs and well-being. Mandatory leave is one of the best burnout prevention strategies: it’s a way for employees to regularly unwind, guilt-free.
It’s highly important for everyone to have a rich life outside the office. Family, hobbies, and personal projects are equally as important as work; a good balance lets employees have it all.
Improving Workforce Planning and Productivity
A well-thought-out mandatory time off policy can help managers plan and assign the workload by letting them know about the availability of their team ahead of time. When PTO is compulsory, it can become much more routine and predictable, making it that much easier for teams to stay organized.
Preventing PTO Hoarding and Managing Costs
Companies provide a certain amount of PTO days each year to their employees, but what happens when they don’t take them?
In the US, it’s regulated on a state-by-state basis. For example, in California, PTO days cannot expire, but in Texas, they can. Meanwhile, in Canada, the use-it-or-lose-it policy is illegal. In contrast, vacation benefits in Europe often offer even greater protection, with stricter laws ensuring employees take their allotted time off.
What often ends up happening when employees don’t take their full PTO is that employers allow for the days to roll over to the next year. Without clear PTO accrual caps and carryover rules, employees can accumulate a large number of days off, better known as PTO hoarding.
Since businesses often have to pay out unused PTO days when employees leave the company, this can make it increasingly difficult to budget and manage the costs of employee PTO. Mandatory PTO policies ensure companies don’t find themselves in these types of sticky situations by ensuring employees take their vacation time.
Challenges and Solutions for Implementing a Mandatory Vacation Policy
Balancing Workload During Employee Absences
If you’re going to implement a mandatory PTO policy, you’ll need to prepare for the fact that employees will be away, of course!
Each department needs to prepare a list of employees' responsibilities and define who will take on their workload. Employees should be routinely trained and provided with documentation outlining processes and procedures to ensure everyone is covered during their absences.
Addressing Employee Resistance to Taking Time Off
Employees might not always love the idea of being forced to take time off and it’s HR's responsibility to address this.
A 2023 study stated that 49% of employees did not take PTO because they were worried they might fall behind. It’s important to cultivate a healthy work environment that makes employees feel comfortable and encouraged to take time for themselves.
Managing Scheduling Conflicts and Overlaps
So, you’ve encouraged your team to rest and take time off, but all of a sudden, the holidays roll around, and your entire staff is packing their suitcases at the same time.
How do you avoid this?
Try implementing a leave tracking solution like Vacation Tracker to gain total visibility into team availability, ensuring time-off requests are managed fairly and with minimal disruption. Users can see who’s off in each department and have an overview of when it makes sense for them to request time off.
Management can also set up blackout periods to make sure their team is there when they need them the most.
Tracking Leave Requests and Approvals
It’s inevitable that if you encourage people to take PTO, you’ll have more PTO requests.
A leave tracking solution helps HR and managers keep track of requests and ensure it is approved by the correct manager. It also gives employees and employers alike a clear picture of who has and hasn’t taken their mandatory leave.
By automating leave requests and approvals, HR teams can significantly reduce manual oversight, ensuring smooth PTO tracking even with higher request volumes.
Ensuring Compliance with Federal and Local Laws
You tell your team they need to take time off, but then what happens when you lose track?
It can get tricky.
Staying compliant is much easier when the process is automated with a simple solution like Vacation Tracker. Records are easily exportable into clear reports, and a detailed calendar gives a quick overview of your team’s PTO history.
Leave Management for Tracking Mandatory Vacation and More
Is a mandatory vacation policy something you think your team might need? Are you struggling to manage PTO effectively?
Maybe you’ve realized you have no quick and easy way of assessing how much PTO your team took last year and how much was lost.
Or, possibly, you’ve been able to extract this information from your HRIS but realized that there’s no simple way for your team to view their balances and make requests, resulting in lower PTO rates and higher levels of dissatisfaction.
We can help!
Vacation Tracker is a complete leave management software that allows for seamless administration of employee time off with:
Automated PTO Tracking: Eliminate the need for manual busywork and human errors by automating your entire PTO process from start to finish.
Valuable Insights: Managers can export reports to analyze PTO trends and pinpoint areas that need improvement to build vacation policies that work for their team.
Improved Visibility: Employees gain full access to their PTO balances and their colleague's PTO schedules to encourage a transparent, fair, and positive workplace culture.
Don't let unused vacation days become a problem. Start your free trial of Vacation Tracker today. Know exactly who's off and when—no spreadsheets, no surprises.
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