Brits Don’t Use PS6.6 Billion in Annual Leave – That’s a Week Off!


Each year, four in ten Brits don’t take a full week of holiday. This amounts to 6.6 billion pounds.

According to by employee rewards platform, Offwork, younger workers between the ages of 18 and 24 as well as those who are fully remote, they will sacrifice their annual leave in order to prioritize work over a vacation.


A survey of 1,000 UK full-time workers found that 41% had five or more holiday days remaining by the end the year. According to the average hourly wage of PS18.64 this would equate to PS6.6 billion in untaken holidays amongst 24.9 million full-time workers.


Brits don’t always use all their leave entitlement. This is due to a variety of reasons, including personal preference – they feel that they don’t require a break, heavy workloads, shortages in staff, and poor planning.


Data shows that employees are selling holiday days worth PS3.7 billion to their employers each year. 23% of the eligible people choose to sell 5 or 6 days.


Just over half of Brits feel guilty in some way when they take a holiday (51%). Over a quarter of Brits (29%) work ‘always or often’ extra hours to compensate for their annual leave. A similar number will think about work while they are out of the office.

Ruth Kudzi , a psychology expert and neuroscience specialist, who wrote the best-selling book ‘How to Feel Better,’ says that disconnecting early will help you to switch off properly.


She says: “It may sound obvious, but setting boundaries with your colleagues is the first step in switching off. You should make sure that you have clear documents for handover and review them with everyone you need to. This will ensure there are no loose end you’ll be held accountable for.


“Also, rather than thinking you’re the only one who can solve things, remind yourself that there are other people who can do that and reflect on how you can reduce the feelings of pressure/responsibility.”


The research by Offwork comes as the UK Government considers giving workers a ‘right to connect’ and employers are prohibited from contacting their staff outside of working hours. It is the law in many countries, including France, Greece Italy, Portugal and Spain.

The first time HR news published the article British Leave Unused: 6.6 Billion Pounds – equivalent to a full week off.

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