British Workers too Busy to Take Holiday
New findings have revealed that 31% of UK employees did not take all of their holiday entitlement last year due to their workload being too heavy to take the day(s) off. 13% said they felt they couldn’t take the day(s) off and 4% were worried what their work would think if they took time off.
Employees have the right to paid holiday amounting to 28 days (including bank holidays). This is to protect people’s health and wellbeing as it ensures people get time off to avoid excessive working which can lead to stress, depression and illness.
This causes a concern as it demonstrates that employees do not feel they can take time off that they are entitled to. This leads to employees becoming overworked and having to take time off sick.
It was found that short term absence is a continuing problem for UK businesses, with 49% of workers saying they had taken genuine sickness absence in the last year and 5% admitting to pulling a ‘sickie’. 16% of younger workers (18 – 24) admitted to pretending they were sick to take time off work – this could be linked to younger workers coming straight out of education where they are afforded more lenience’s.
Therefore, employers need to focus on interventions and management of short term absence and holidays to ensure that employees have a healthy work–life balance. Employers should also ensure that employees feel able to take annual leave without the fear of what they may return to.
Source: onrec.com
