In the 21^st century, taking a leave from work should be a right and not a privilege.

Taking time off your paid work is one of the things workers look forward to, after months of toiling. One month off in a year can help them recuperate and become more productive, especially if they have been working for long hours.

Most jobs come with their share of stress and justify the need for a rest. Unfortunately, some fields provide the least amount of vacation. The problem is that most of these areas require their employees all through the year. We can also blame the emerging workaholic culture, especially in developed countries like the U.S.

Allianz Global Assistance, an American Insurance Company, reported that 56% of Americans had not gone for vacation between 2014 and 2015. That means more than 135 million people did not take a break in one year. This is probably because Americans have been taught to work till they drop. In addition, companies are discouraging their staff members from taking vacations by making them believe they will be left behind in the workplace.

The effect is that workers have become fearful, especially at a time when most economies are volatile. These employees dread vacations because work is going to pile up when they return. To them, taking time out is no longer a priority.

Today, most workers are accustomed to a ‘fight to survive’ culture at the workplace. In fact, some employees remain ‘connected’ to the offices via technology so they can remain updated about work. Research blames millennials for this madness. This generation has been identified as being overly obsessed with work and is probably responsible for undermining vacations.

While some professions rule out the possibility of a holiday, there are some that provide little time for it. Most of these jobs involve working during irregular hours, have tight deadlines, involve intense competition, and sometimes require you to travel; like law, sales, or journalism.

Some of them involve solving people’s problems every day, and in most cases, these jobs are usually understaffed, meaning your work continues after sunset. They include teaching, military personnel or social work.

The problem is that too much work, with no vacay, can cause a burnout. Here are 20 jobs around the world that get the least amount of vacation:

20. GENERAL AND OPERATIONS MANAGERS

Their work is mostly to manage the staff and make sure business is on the right track. While the roles may sound like fun, they can take a toll on someone’s life. According to a 2015 Ernst & Young research report, 58% of U.S. managers put in more than 40 hours a week.

Managers are required to be there throughout because they help in making tough decisions, some of which are unpopular. They also have to regularly deal with employees who are demanding a bigger paycheck or more vacation time. Managers are supposed to take responsibility when something goes wrong, and they always have to come up with a solution.

In some instances, managers may have to come to work on weekends or during the holidays because their companies need them. At the end of the day, managers find themselves too busy to take time off.

19. MILITARY PERSONNEL

They get the same number of annual paid time off regardless of rank, and they call it “leave.” When you compare them to other ordinary jobs, the package is not pleasant. This is because a soldier who is on active duty only has two and one-half days of leave every month, or 30 days for an entire year.

The problem with this career is that you cannot take a leave as you wish. Your leave time must be approved, and in most cases, you have to provide a substantial reason.

Also, note that the leave counts weekends, making it different from civilian organizations. According to military rules, leave must start and end in the same locality or area. For example, if you start your leave on Friday, you cannot leave that area until Friday, regardless of whether you are off-duty on weekends.

18. REGISTERED NURSE

Nursing requires that you constantly look after multiple patients and maintain their well-being. However, most nurses have to work on weekends, during holidays, and at night. They are mostly required to be on their feet for long hours.

For this reason, nurses have difficulty getting vacation time. The situation worsens if the nurse has not acquired enough seniority. Once a nurse gets a job, vacation time accrues as the nurse works. For example, in order for a nurse to accrue four weeks of vacation, he/she will have to put in at least one year or even more.

Going on vacation depends on whether someone is going to cover for you and if your other co-workers also want time off. Nurses barely get a break, mostly because finding a replacement is hard, and the job is demanding. In addition, there is always a shortage of nurses.

17. FIREFIGHTERS

Most firefighters have revealed that for the first five years of work, they receive five days vacation and 72 hours of personal leave. After five years, the time increases by 10 hours every year. This statistic is not for all firefighters. Some have reported getting 156 hours vacation.

The problem comes when a firefighter is supposed to go on vacation, but there is too much work. During such times, the firefighter has no option but to forego the holiday.

In this profession, picking a vacation date means submitting a request and waiting for a response, which heavily relies on seniority. A firefighter may not always get the dates of their choice. In fact, if you are not a senior, you are continuously going to get a raw deal. For example, you may get two weeks for the whole year.

16. SOCIAL WORKERS

Social workers experience such massive workloads that some of them find it difficult to plan for holidays. While the job is usually demanding, taking a rest is supposed to help an employee recuperate and function at optimal levels, but that is not usually the case.

Many social employees work under pressure. Sadly, most of them are afraid of taking time off because of the fear that work will pile up. In addition, most of their work settings do not provide for a back-up. This means that when a team member goes for vacation, the tasks will be transferred to other team members.

The kind of work that these people perform can only be undertaken by a few, and this explains why finding replacements can sometimes be a challenge. Most of them have discovered that when they go on vacation, they put vulnerable people at risk.

15. JOURNALIST

News waits for no one. This is why journalists work on weekends, holidays, and during the night. Journalists are regularly required to adjust their schedules to accommodate breaking news. They also have a responsibility of delivering news on time

Despite these hardships, most journalists continue to complain about low pay. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a news analyst made $36K a year in 2010. And media houses cleverly pay them a salary instead of paying them by the hour.

Sadly, journalists are supposed to put in extraordinary hours researching stories and interviewing people. They are also tasked with producing the story, which may take so much time.

These professionals undergo constant stress to produce truthful stories and barely get time to go on vacation. Their field also discourages vacations because the work is demanding.

14. RETAIL SALES PERSONS

One of the biggest complaints about retail jobs is that there is hardly any time off. This is largely because retailers are always looking to cut costs and workers may only get 12-20 hours a week.

Salespeople have to prove that their merchandise is better because customers have a variety of places to shop. This means putting in more hours and having less time for vacation. In addition, working in retail can involve working at odd hours (weekends, holidays, and nights), meaning you seldom have time for family or social life.

This profession is also known to have low pay, especially when one is just starting out. Benefits like health insurance are also rarely available, and retail workers have to seek assistance from other sources, like the government. All these drawbacks explain why there is less vacation time in this field.

13. WAITERS

Waiters work irregular hours and are required to have a flexible schedule. Since their schedule may change from week to week, it becomes impossible to have time for friends or family.

There is also the issue of unstable pay. Most of their income comes from tips that are paid by restaurant patrons. While on some days a waiter may enjoy generous tips, other days may involve dealing with stingy customers. This means your income fluctuates and it becomes difficult to plan your finances.

In this field, going for a vacation is never a priority, but even if you go, you can only enjoy a few days because your employer may need you sooner than you expect. Waiters do not get benefits like health insurance or a retirement plan. Waiters also have to deal with job insecurity because restaurant owners are always receiving applications from people. Vacation makes no sense.

12. ACCOUNTANTS

As an accountant, be prepared to sit at a desk working on your computer for long hours. Accounting comes with high stress levels because it is a typical 9-5 job that rarely gives you time off. Worse, there are usually times when accountants have workloads, especially at the end of the month, when staff members need to be paid, or when an organization needs to make purchases.

Organizations rely on these experts and do not allow them much leisure time. This is because accountants belong to a crucial department in an organization. The things that could go wrong when an accountant is absent are endless. In fact, accountants dread vacations because of the fear that work may pile up. They are a workaholic bunch who hardly ever want to spend time outside the office.

11. TEACHERS

This is a high-level commitment job, and it involves spending time outside of school. After school hours, you will likely find a teacher grading papers, planning lessons, or carrying out other work-related tasks. Unfortunately, most people believe that teachers get plenty of leisure time. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that compared to other professions, teachers are the most likely to carry their work home.

Unfortunately, their pay is usually low considering the amount of work they are expected to undertake. In the past, teachers have reported burnouts resulting from workloads because they face immense pressure from students, parents and administrators. Most of them end up with less time for vacation.

10. SALES MANAGERS

While they may not be the ones who are required to go out and make sales, they spend so many hours creating marketing materials and brainstorming ideas. In most cases, sales managers have to deal with company drama, especially when their team fails to meet expectations and they need to explain to management why they have not met their target.

At times, sales managers may get a salary boost, but that comes with an increase in expectations, meaning they are likely going to spend more time working. Overall, the work environment discourages vacations by putting pressure on the sales manager. People in this field have confessed that they can sometimes go a whole year without a break.

9. POLICE OFFICERS

Police officers regularly complain about the disappointing pay in the police force. You would expect them to receive a higher pay because they are exposed to more danger, but that has never been the case. Officers are always supposed to work full-time and rarely even get time off to enjoy the weekends. Some police officers can hardly tell the difference between Monday and Saturday because they are used to working the entire week.

The demands of this job have given little priority to vacations. At all times, there must be someone patrolling the streets, and that means a change in shifts. How are you going to convince your boss that you need time for leisure? Some shifts even require that you go for many days without seeing your family. At the end of the day, a police officer has no time for wining and dining.

8. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT STAFF

Administrative support staff carry out most of the work that is required to ensure an organization is running without a hitch. An administrative support staff will always complain about piled work because the job requires one to have various office administration skills. In fact, this profession requires a multi-tasker who can deal with fewer breaks.

Organizations rely on these people and rarely allow them time off because so many things can go wrong when they are away. There have been complains that their pay is not equivalent to the amount of work they perform for their organizations. And this is worsened by the competition for these positions. Most support staff face pressure and organizations expect them to spend less time out.

7. BARTENDERS

The job appeals to people who lack formal education or people who want to work part-time. Sadly, employers take advantage of these situations and barely provide vacation time for their employees.

Though the job may be flexible and may increase one’s earnings, the pay is usually not satisfactory. Workers may resort to working on weekends or during the evenings, but the pay is never adequate. This makes it almost impossible to find time for vacation as employees are at all times struggling to increase their pay and better their lives.

This is also a high-pressure job, especially for those working in busy restaurants or popular bars. The poor pay and the requirement to work at odd hours means there is no time for dillydallying.

6. LAWYERS

To be successful in this profession, you are required to put in long hours. This means spending almost no time with family and friends. It also means ignoring your hobbies and paying full attention to your career. In other words, time becomes the only valuable thing.

Though there are lawyers who spend less time in the office and a sizeable amount of time on the golf course, these are lawyers who have toiled for years, and they are countable.

Sometimes, lawyers receive calls from desperate clients during the weekend or in the evening, and they have to show up because their clients solely depend on them. Lawyers have become accustomed to working throughout the year that almost all law firms discourage vacations because a break means increased workload. Global law practices demand that lawyers be available to their clients throughout.

5. CORPORATE EXECUTIVES

Organization executives have plenty of responsibilities that give them almost no time for vacation. Though organization officials have greater power, the responsibilities may sometimes be too much and may mean they have to sacrifice their leaves. In most cases, they are required to put in longer hours to ensure their organizations are running smoothly. They are also required to govern over the organization and solve any problems that arise.

Think about the CEO of a startup. The workload tends to be high, and many things could go wrong. This is the person who has no time to travel miles away to watch animals or swim at beautiful beaches, even though the money is there. As a startup CEO, you are expected to work harder because you are trying to get a company off the ground. The buck stops with you, literally.

4. COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PILOTS

While they travel to faraway places, pilots lack personal time. Most of the time they are far from home and even with their huge salaries there isn’t much to smile about.

Sadly, the times when they are supposed to be going on vacation, like everyone else, happen to be the time when they are most busy. Such times include Christmas, Easter or other public holidays.

Sometimes, the expectations from their companies are too high and leave them almost no time off. Some of these companies are profit greedy and overwork their pilots just to meet their profit targets. The airline business is also very volatile and is often affected by things like diseases, fuel prices, wars and terror threats. This has left many of these companies overworking their employees.

3. FACTORY WORKERS

One of the biggest problems in a factory system is that the pay is usually low. This is one of the fields that is being threatened by automation and employers are taking advantage of this fact to deny their workers vacation time.

Many people look down upon factory employees because it is a blue-collar job and this is probably why their employers feel they do not deserve a vacation. Most of them are usually supposed to perform huge tasks because factories are always looking to maximize profits and minimize costs.

The amount of work rarely gives them a chance to even ask for vacation because of the fear that they may be replaced. Sadly, factory workers rarely have other options and have to stick to horrible working conditions.

2. STOCK BROKERS

This job comes with too much pressure. Stock brokers are supposed to predict the future, and their work is largely exhausting. They cold-call strangers and have the pressure of providing results to either their clients or organizations.

Their high-stress position requires that they work for long hours, and this mostly means no time for vacation. A stock broker is required to perform at all times, and they may be required to work longer to realize this dream. These people are workaholics and consider vacations economically unsound.

Even those who go for vacations do so for only a short time because the urge to report back to work is always higher. Their income is mainly affected by the changes in the markets, and they prefer monitoring the markets rather than going on vacation.

1. PARAMEDICS

This role requires that you remain on your feet for very long hours. One of the problems they face is inconvenient schedules. Though there may be emergency doctors, paramedics will work in the evenings and during the nights because they cannot set their working hours.

Paramedics usually have great responsibilities that often deny them time for social activities or family. But unfortunately, this is another profession that is underpaid. Paramedics are known for missing important times like Christmas and Thanksgiving because emergencies do not go for holidays or take vacations. They have become accustomed to working on weekends and at nights. Their type of work places little priority on vacations.

Sources: forbes.com, businessinsider.com, theguardian.com, cnn.com, huffingtonpost.com