Paycom study finds summer PTO turns up the heat on managers as Independence Day drives peak demand

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 11, 2026) - Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) ("Paycom"), a leading provider of comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software, today released new workplace data revealing the growing strain summer places on managers across the United States. PTO requests spike around Independence Day - the No. 1 summer holiday for time off, with 63% of employees planning PTO around it - yet 92% of those employees expect approval regardless of when they ask.

Managers and employees agree on the timing problem, but not on its consequences. Sixty percent of managers said employees submit summer PTO requests with less than one month's notice, a figure corroborated by employees, with 52% self-reporting the same issue. Yet most managers say they have difficulty maintaining coverage during the summer, underscoring how hard it can be to balance worker expectations with business continuity.

The findings point to a clear demand for better planning tools and automated decisioning that help organizations apply policies consistently, preserve coverage and reduce the administrative burden that falls on managers during peak vacation season. Managers are asking for technology to ease the burden: More than half want improved PTO planning tools, and nearly half want automated scheduling software.

"Summer PTO requests shouldn't force managers to choose between a positive employee experience and keeping the business running," said Tiffany McGowen, senior executive vice president of HR and talent acquisition at Paycom. "The right technology automatically applies time-off policies consistently, ensuring coverage, reducing decision fatigue and giving employees the instant answer they expect."

Summer PTO findings

• Summer is peak PTO season, and Independence Day is by far the No. 1 time-off period, with 63% of employees planning their PTO around the holiday.
• Sixty percent of managers said employees submit summer PTO requests with less than one month's notice.
• Despite the timing of their request, 92% of employees expect their PTO will be approved by their leader.
• Over 50% of managers said they have difficulty maintaining coverage during the summer.
• Over 50% of managers said they want improved PTO planning tools, with most even asking for automated scheduling software.

Paycom's Time-Off Requests featuring GONE^® relieves managers of this burden by instantly approving or denying time-off requests based on company policies and criteria set by managers. With policy-compliant decisioning built into the software, organizations can apply rules consistently while helping preserve staffing coverage during peak vacation periods. Employees can submit time-off requests any time, from anywhere and receive an immediate answer.

To learn more about Paycom's time-off and PTO-tracking tool, visit https://www.paycom.com/software/time-off-requests/.