1 in 5 Longford employees do not use up annual leave

Over 1 in 5 people in Longford did not take all their holidays last year, according to research on annual leave undertaken by FRS Recruitment.

1 in 8 people (13%) in Longford did not take 5 days of annual leave or more, which in employment terms represents a week’s leave.

26% didn’t take four days, 18% had three days which went unused, 19% also opted against using up two days of leave and 16% had 1 day of their holidays remaining.

The FRS Recruitment Annual Leave Report also had a range of other findings about how people in Longford make use of their holiday entitlements and the various employment policies in place around the use of annual leave.

4 out of 5 people in Longford used annual leave for foreign travel last year and another 2 out of 3 used it for domestic travel.

A further 33% used it for family reasons, 17% for personal reasons and 5% due to illness. 

For 1 in 5 people in Longford, the longest period of annual leave they took last year was less than a week. In the case of 34% their longest break was one week and 38% took two weeks of holidays. While 6% say they took a break for longer than two weeks.

Before taking annual leave, 46% of all Longford employees say they have to give their employer two weeks’ notice and a further 43% said they must provide one month's notice.

Half of those surveyed in Longford say unused annual leave is carried into the following year and a quarter say they receive a payment in lieu.

However 18% of Longford employees say their leave is lost if it is not used. 

A majority of people in Longford would like their employer to introduce unlimited leave, while more than half people in the county would also be in favour of a four day work week, even if it impacted on their salary. 

Speaking about the research, Lynne McCormack, General Manager with FRS Recruitment said:

“Holidays are a key point of negotiation between Longford employees and their employers and are vital in maintaining work/ life balance. They play a significant role in how we manage the many demands on our time outside of work. So it is useful to get a practical sense of how they are actually being used. 

“What was surprising was the number of people who are not making full use of their leave, both in Longford and around the country. Even more eye opening are the number of days leave that haven’t been used, with five days or more not being used by 1 in 8 people in Longford last year. Work wise, effectively that’s a week of holidays going unused for those people.

“When we do holiday, it is also interesting to consider the length of breaks we take. The most popular choice nationally and in Longford was two weeks in one go, which would traditionally have been seen as the standard, main holiday of the year. Yet for 1 in 5 people locally, their longest break was less than one week."

McCormack acknowledged that the use of holidays and annual leave is evolving both from a policy perspective and in terms of what is done with that time.

She concluded that reports such as this provide some insight into the long term implications for how people view their days off and how they are managed by employers.