Wednesday, November 14, 2007

One-Day Holidays

There are six weeks left in the year, and several long weekends, if you're inclined to stretch out Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's with an extra day off.

But many of us will be at our desks, answering e-mails the day after Thanksgiving and all other almost-holidays.

Four in 10 workers plan to take off only the holidays their employer provides at the end of the year, and another one in six expect to take only one or two extra days off, according to a poll for staffing firm OfficeTeam. One-fourth of respondents to the survey of 493 full- or part-time workers expect to take five or more days away as the year ends.

The reasons are simple: Many people have already used their vacation time.

But others get so wrapped up in their jobs -- think political strategists or lawyers on the way up -- that they just don't want to leave work. Research shows that one-third of people who don't use up their vacation think they're too busy to get away.

Or maybe this year they won't have any leftover sweet potatoes to snack on at home or a sweetheart they want to introduce to grandma.

-- Vickie Elmer