The impact of vacation and job stress on burnout and absenteeism

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that vacation r elief decreases psychological and behavioral strains caused by job stressor s. We examined the impact of job stress and vacation on strain on 87 blue-c ollar employees in an industrial enterprise in central Israel. Whereas form er respite research focused on the impact of vacation only on psychological Mains such as burnout and job and life satisfaction, the current study als o examined a behavioral strain, absenteeism. The employees completed questi onnaires before and after vacation and again four weeks later. Our findings show that vacation alleviated perceived job stress and burnout as predicte d, replicating findings that a respite from work diminishes levels of strai n to lower than chronic, on-the-job levels. We found declines in burnout im mediately after the vacation and a return to prevacation levels four weeks later, and a similar pattern with regard to absenteeism.