A marketing company in Japan made headlines this week with an employee incentive that grants non-smokers six extra paid vacation days a year. The move, prompted by employee complaints that smokers at the company worked fewer hours because of cigarette breaks, is an extension of the sort of wellness incentives many organizations have adopted, but goes a step further in using paid time off as a bargaining chip.
It appears to be a smart decision: after all, when asked to rank the benefit most important to them after health care, most people ranked vacation policy and flex time at the top, according to the latest reading of an ongoing query by Comparably. More than 10,000 employees across the technology industry participated in the study.
Vacation and flex time at the top
Thirty-one percent of respondents chose “vacation policy” as their number one priority, almost even with “flex time” (30%). “401(k) contribution was close behind (29%). Office meals and childcare were least important.
Women are more slightly more interested in vacation policy than men. Men ranked vacation policy, flex time, and 401(k) contribution equally, while women were more about vacation time.
Level of importance depends very much on age
Workers aged 18 to 35 ranked vacation policy at the top; workers aged 36 to 45 ranked flex time at the top; and workers aged 46 and older ranked 401(k) contribution at the top.
Sampling:
26 to 30
51 to 55
By department
Employees in every department ranked either vacation policy or flex time as their top priority, except workers in IT and sales, who ranked 401(k) contribution as their top priority.
IT
Sales
The latest reading is as of Nov. 1.
