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• 4 Out of 10 People Admit They Didn't Take All Their Holidays Last Year
• 1 in 5 didn’t use up a week’s annual leave or more
• Foreign travel and domestic travel most common reasons for taking leave
• 1 in 4 people say the longest break they took was less than a week

More than 4 out of 10 people (42%) did not make full use of their full holiday entitlements last year, according to research on annual leave undertaken by FRS Recruitment.

Almost 1 in 5 people (19%) did not take 5 days of annual leave or more, which in business terms represents a week’s leave. 15% of people said they did not take 4 days, 17% had 3 days which went unused, 19% did not use 2 days of leave and 3% had 1 day’s holidays remaining. 

The FRS Recruitment Annual Leave Report also found that almost 1 in 2 people (48%) said they used their annual leave for domestic travel last year, the most common reason cited. 46% used it for foreign travel, 15% for family reasons, 9% for personal reasons and 4% due to illness.

For one in four people (24%), the longest period of annual leave they took was less than a week. 38% stated their longest break was 2 weeks, 33% took no longer than 1 week, while 5% took more than 2 weeks’ leave.   

Before taking annual leave, giving two week’s notice was the most common requirement with 46% saying that is the period of advance warning they need to give their employers. 38% must give one month’s notice, 12% can give one week or less and 4% say they must provide notice in excess of a month. 

Over 3 out of 10 people (31%) also say their annual leave is lost if it goes unused, while a similar number say it is carried over into the following year (30%). A further 1 in 4 (27%) receive payment in lieu for unused leave.

In terms of other types of leave, sick leave was the most common other form of leave used last year with 4 out of 10 people (41%) making use of this entitlement. 35% made use of parental leave, 35% care leave, 33% maternity/ paternity leave, 7% study leave and 7% due to a bereavement.

Almost 6 out of 10 people (58%) say they would be in favour of their employer introducing unlimited annual leave, while a majority of people (56%) would also be favour of a 4 day working week, even if it impacted on their salary.

A total of 1,886 people took part in the survey used to compile the FRS Annual Leave Report. FRS Recruitment is one of Ireland’s leading recruitment agencies with 10 offices nationwide. They are part of the multimillion euro social enterprise co-operative, FRS Co-Op.

Speaking about the research, Lynne McCormack, General Manager with FRS Recruitment said, “After salaries, holidays and annual leave entitlements are arguably one of the main points of negotiation between employees and employers. Yet despite their importance, an increasing number of these sought after days of leave are going unused by employees. Of even greater note is the number of holidays that people are not taking. 1 in 5 of us say they did not take 5 days or more leave last year. Effectively that’s a week of holidays going unused.

“Not taking their annual leave may suit some people, perhaps they receive payment in lieu or wish to carry over their leave to the following year. However more than 3 out of 10 people say they lose any days which go unused.

“When we do holiday, it is also interesting to see the length of breaks we take. The most popular choice is a maximum of two weeks in one go, which was taken by 4 out of 10 people last year. Yet for 1 in 4 people, their longest break was less than one week.

“In FRS Recruitment we have also seen an increasing number of candidates and employers exploring the possibility of implementing ‘unlimited leave’ policies. Almost 6 out of 10 people would like to see such a policy introduced by their employer. A majority of people would also be interested in a 4 day work week, even if it had an impact on their salaries. These findings are particularly interesting in the context of the high percentage of people who didn’t use their annual leave last year.

“Holidays and leave are such an important part of professional life these days. They play a key role in maintaining work/ life balance and in how we manage the many demands on our time outside of work. So it is fascinating to get a larger picture of how leave entitlements are managed by people around the county and the implications this may have for employers and employees alike,” Ms. McCormack concluded.