I read the referenced article with interest as it certainly resonated with me and our business.
I do feel for employees who find themselves in a position through workload where they feel unable to take their accrued holiday but it's married with a certain sense of frustration that they haven't managed to book any time off during the whole of the year or suddenly expect to be absent for the entirety of December in order to use up their remaining entitlement (apparently with the belief that December is a very slow month in recruitment. For the record, last December was a record sales month for us!)
In my previous business, I also, every year, had to explain to the same employees that no, they weren't going to be paid for the holiday they hadn't taken. This was generally met with sulks and even tears on occasion. Mostly mine, borne of frustration!
So when we started our new venture, I wanted it to be crystal clear that they could carry a certain small amount of leave but it was UP TO THEM to make sure they used the rest. And that they absolutely would not be paid for anything else.
The result?
I'll probably still need to give certain individuals a kick up the backside to remind them. But hopefully we've instilled in the team the importance of making sure they take a break to recharge their batteries...after all, a change of scenery benefits everyone from time to time.
Failing to use all of their annual holiday entitlement, industrious Brits are losing out on 10 days of annual leave each year, and over £650 in pay. Nearly nine out of ten British workers failed to take all of their holiday allowance last year and a further one in twenty missed out on over ten days of paid leave, according to a survey conducted by Voucherbox.co.uk. Excuses given for not taking entitled holidays included 43% who said they were too busy, one in ten said their holiday requests were denied by their boss. Over a third of could not carry their remaining holiday days over to the following year or receive remuneration from employers eventuating in 35% being out of pocket by £674.60 on average a year.
Read the original article here