Two thirds (65 per cent ) of Irish people do not take all of their annual leave each year, according to a new survey by Hotels.com
The research into how many holidays we take each year reveals that we appear to be a hardworking nation; with just over one in five (22 per cent ) saying they are too busy at work to take all their allotted annual leave. One fifth (20 per cent ) admit that they just do not get around to taking them, and 15 per cent make the effort to save up their days but do not find the time to take them before the festive season.
According to the Hotels.com survey, almost half of us (41 per cent ) get 21-25 days annual leave while just over a third (38 per cent ) have 20 days off each year, while 20 per cent say they have more than 25 days holiday each year.
Luckily, almost two thirds (63 per cent ) of workers are allowed to carry their holidays over to the following year, although one fifth (20 per cent ) are only allowed to take some, but not all, of their days into the new year. Just over half of people (51 per cent ) take five days off at a time to make the most of their holidays, while over a third (35 per cent ) prefer to spread it out, taking one or two days at a time.
A huge 88 per cent of those surveyed think that people should always take their full holiday allowance, while 10 per cent say it should depend on how busy it is at work.
Kate Hopcraft from Hotels.com said: “This is a fascinating survey as it seems the majority of people are too busy to take all of their annual leave and resent not getting to use up or carry over all of their days. It’s important to get the right work-life balance and hotel getaways are the perfect solution, whether it’s for a week or a weekend.”
