Employees say guilt prevents them taking time off
A third of UK office workers fail to take all their holiday leave, according to a new study from recruitment firm Adecco.
Data from the survey of more than 1,000 employees showed that a further 15 per cent of people only take their full holiday entitlement because their employer forces them to use it.
More than a quarter of staff (27 per cent) said they had no used all their holiday because they “felt guilty” about asking for time off and half of these people said they felt guilty because they felt they were leaving their colleagues in the lurch.
This is no surprise as a third of survey respondent said they had experienced “added stress” as a result of their colleagues taking time away from work. And nearly half of all employees said they would cancel holiday for work commitments.
Meanwhile, employees also expressed a reluctance to tell their boss what they would be doing during their hard earned time-off with a fifth admitting they had lied to their employer about why they were taking holiday.
“UK workers seem to have adopted a range of bad habits associated with their holiday leave. It is important to remember that annual leave is a legal entitlement and people should be encouraged to use it. It seems employees are reluctant to take their holiday leave and this could be for a range of reasons, including fears over job security and leaving their colleagues with increased stress,” said Alex Fleming, operations director at Adecco.
A previous study by HR consultant Towers Watson found staff risked ‘burn-out’ if they don’t use their holiday entitlement to de-stress.
Longer hours and job insecurity all add to a pressurised work environment.
The firm’s Global Workforce Study found that British workers feel they need to demonstrate their commitment to their job with 26 per cent admitting that they have not been taking as much holiday or personal time off over the past three years.
Meanwhile, findings from the CIPD’s 2012 Absence Management survey, published last October, revealed presenteeism (people coming to work despite being ill) had risen by a third of employees from the year before. Stress also remained the main reason for workers to take sick leave after it became the top reason for the first time in 2011.