How to Plan (and Get Paid for) Paid Time Off as a Gig Worker
The gist
Gig workers deserve vacations, too! While gig economy workers (like rideshare drivers, app-based delivery drivers, freelancers, and many other types of self-employed people) might not receive paid time off (PTO) in the traditional way, they should still take a break occasionally.
Budgeting, tracking your earnings and expenses accurately, and setting realistic vacation goals are all a big part of taking time off when self-employed. It might feel like a lot of extra work, but if you get into the habit of setting aside a certain amount of your earnings every day or week, it’ll make a huge difference in what kind of break you can take.
Seek out discounted travel — including airfare sales, hotel benefits, and gas savings — that will allow you to devote more of your budget to, you know, being on vacation.
Taking vacations and maintaining a healthy work-life balance isn’t just useful for relieving your stress; it might actually be adding years to your life.
In this article
What’s the best way to track your earnings and expenses when self-employed?
Why is it important to have a healthy work-life balance as a gig worker?
We’ve all been there. Grabbing a quick coffee in your 10 minutes of free time when you start scrolling social media, and you see that your friend is on vacation … again. Is it déjà vu? You frantically look through their feed, and you're right — they’ve taken another trip. How’s that possible? They’re a gig worker just like you.
Being self-employed means you get to be your own boss — but that also means you have to run your own business. This applies to planning your gig worker PTO as well. Knowing your regular earnings and expenses is essential to making sure you’re plotting a vacation that fits your budget.
Keep reading for some great tips on taking time off when self-employed, then get ready to plan your next trip!
Do self-employed people get paid time off?
The shortest answer is no, you (probably) don’t get PTO if you’re a gig worker unless it’s in your contract — so let’s assume you don’t. As you know, full-time, salaried employees typically get some amount of paid vacation days as part of their benefits package. This means the company will pay your salary on days that you don’t work.
But, for instance, if you’re a rideshare driver who owns your vehicle, that means you are the company that would have to cover your salary for those days off. Don’t despair — this doesn’t mean you’ll never get to go on a vacation again. It just means you have to be proactive about managing your budget.
We’ll cover budgeting later, but first, we need to answer a really common question:
Should you be taking time off when self-employed?
Yes. Ja. Sí. Oui. Sim. We could say it in dozens of languages, but, of course, you should be taking time off — even if you’re self-employed!
We have scientific proof: In 2013, researchers at the Institute of Applied Positive Research and Monograms found that on low-stress vacations, “55 percent [of travelers] returned to work with higher levels of energy than before the trip.”
And it’s not just higher levels of energy. In the 2018 edition of The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, Finnish researcher Timo Strandberg performed a 40-year study that concludes THAT getting away regularly can add years to your lifespan.
So once again, don’t be afraid of taking time off when self-employed. It’s good for you — literally.
How can you plan a vacation as a gig worker?
Hopefully, by now, you’ve made peace with the idea that you deserve a little rest and relaxation. Now comes the fun part: Start planning your vacation. To figure out how much money you need to set aside for your gig worker PTO savings, start by calculating what you’ll want to pay yourself. This should be roughly what you earn on a regular day for each day of vacation.
To do this, add up how much money you make in a week and divide it by five (or seven if you work weekends). For instance, if you’re earning $1,300 a week, that means you’ll need to set aside at least $260 per day to cover your time off. In this example, if you wanted to take an eight-day trip, you would need to save at least $2,080 on top of the trip’s cost.
Okay, so maybe we got ahead of ourselves. Now that you’ve established the goal for your minimum PTO fund, it’s time for the fun part — planning your vacation. Because you’re on a budget, we recommend any of the following cash-saving tactics:
Set price alerts on your favorite airlines’ websites for certain routes and be flexible. Sometimes, you can score relatively last-minute deals.
Use hotel loyalty programs for bonus nights and upgrades to nicer rooms.
Travel during the off-season, when hotels and attractions might have discounted prices.
Use a gas tracking app to make sure you’re getting the best deal if you’re planning a road trip.
Make it a group outing! Vacation with friends or family to split costs.
Check if your credit card has travel benefits or discounts that may come in handy.
From there, pick your destination, choose some activities (or no activities, if you’re into that), and figure out what your daily budget is for the trip. Add that all up with your PTO number to figure out how much you’ll have to save for your vacation.
What’s the best way to track your earnings and expenses when self-employed? And how does that support PTO?
Tracking your mileage, earnings, and expenses as a freelancer or gig worker should be one of your most important day-to-day tasks — this allows you to maximize your tax savings and optimize your earning potential, both of which can help generate extra cash to set aside for benefits like PTO. Seeing how much you’re earning every day will also help you set more realistic budgeting and savings goals, meaning you can have an even more stress-free trip, which is the point of this whole thing, right?
Simplify mileage, income, and expense tracking — along with all the other challenges of independent work — with the FREE Stride app, a one-stop platform that helps you make the most of self-employment.
Why is it important to have a healthy work-life balance as a gig worker?
In 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than 55 million Americans have worked in the gig economy — and that number has surely grown since then. With more people working in the freelance or self-employment space than ever before, it’s important to have some perspective. Hustle culture doesn’t mean you have to hustle all the time. What’s the point of working yourself to exhaustion if you don’t get to have a little fun every so often?
A recent study by the research firm Deloitte estimates that some 77 percent of American workers have experienced burnout. The risk of burnout applies equally, if not more, to gig economy workers. Because you’re setting your own hours and choosing the gigs you take, you can often lose sight of the big picture. Planning a break, a vacation, or a trip every now and then can go a long way toward giving you perspective.
Don’t forget: Life is about living.
