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New research from Monarch Airlines has revealed that British workers are not using up their full holiday allowances at work. They surveyed 2,000 British workers about holiday allowances and their work-life balance. 9.8m said that they don’t use their full holiday allowances and are losing an average of 4.6 days a year as a result.

Lack of time

49% of those who didn’t use their full allowance said that they didn’t have the time to make use of it. 44% said they gave up their holidays because they can’t afford to take time off from work.

They discovered that 19% of Brits regret not using their full allowance. 37% said that they regret working such long hours that they end up missing out on personal time with family and friends.

Even those that do use their full allowance, say they regret not being able to switch off from work. Some admitted to even spending up to an hour a day checking through work emails.

According to a similar study from AirTours a few months ago, 36% of people said that they were too busy to take time off from work. 26% said they were also restricted in the days they could have off because they couldn’t have the same days as someone else in the office.

So there seems to be a pattern, people are too busy at work for days off. As a business owner, it’s important that you’re aware of this so that you can then address the problem either by hiring new people to take the work load off others or by restructuring your departments and listening to your employees.

Rob Foulkes, head of digital and marketing at Monarch says: “It’s interesting to see that so many Brits wish they could go on more holidays yet, almost half didn’t actually use up their full holiday allowance last year. That’s why we’ve created the Flights Quicker Than Tool, to help Brits find out where they can save time and make the most of the holiday they are entitled to.”

 

Time management

Respondents were also asked about their time management skills. Monarch found that 16% admitted to having poor time management skills in their professional and personal lives. This may be contributing to the feeling that they don’t have the time to go away and use their allowances.

Time is also used up with daily tasks like small talk and commuting. The survey found that Brits waste an average of 5.5 hours a week making small talk at the office, leaving them less time to complete work.

According to a recent survey from Car Parts 4 Less, Brits are spending 8,084 hours commuting during their life time. Over half of workers spend an hour or more traveling, meaning that they could be spending around five or more hours a week just traveling.

 

Saving time

Monarch asked respondents what their top tips to manage workloads and free up time were. 49% swear by making to-do lists. 20% say that creating a schedule for tasks is important to them. 20% say that they bulk-cook meals to save time cooking throughout the week. 13% say they have to put a limit on watching TV and films and 11% say they go through a digital detox and take time off from social media.

7% make use of their commuting time to read or catch up on emails. A further 10% say they work from home to save time commuting, which of course isn’t always an option so it might be worth considering for your employees.

 

You can find our holiday request form template for your employees, here.

Have you found this in your office? Are you making sure staff can take days off without worry? Let us know your thoughts.

About The Author

Kara Copple

An experienced business and finance writer, sometimes moonlighting as a fiction writer and blogger.

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