The Hidden Dangers of Not Taking Your Vacation Days American workers' reluctance to use vacation time is turning into a crisis.

For many Americans, working without vacation time has become routine. However, even when workers have paid time off, they often find it difficult to pull the trigger and step away from work. Why the guilt?

A decision to not use vacation days could end up being one that a worker majorly regrets. Depending on their career, American workers often receive zero compensation for unused PTO days should they change jobs. Instead of using up paid time off that was granted to them as a benefit upon hire, workers often end up having to relinquish those unused days without anything to show for it.

In 2018, Americans left a reported 768 million days of paid vacation days unused, with 55% percent of Americans failing to use all of their paid vacation time, according to the U.S. Travel Association.