Brits are losing £1.3b in unused annual leave

More than six million full time workers are clocking up £1.3 billion a year in unused annual leave.

Employees are losing out on the days they failed to take this year, with 27% forgoing an average of two days’ holiday as their annual leave calendars reset at the end of the year.New research based on the UK’s average wage found that £216 of additional work is being down by each overworked employee, totalling up to £1,341,460,000 across the country.

Those working in the hospitality and events management sector are least likely to take their full holiday, with an average of six days left unclaimed by the end of the year.

A survey carried out by printerland.co.uk found that half of respondents had to use their annual leave for medical appointments or to wait in for deliveries.

“There’s a lot of money being missed out on by UK employees when you consider that 27 per cent of people haven’t taken their full entitlement and are in work instead. And of course, many people aren’t allowed to roll over holidays into the new year, so a lot of those days will be simply lost,” said Catherine Bannan, HR manager for Printerland.co.uk.

“Even if you haven’t made plans to go on holiday, it’s important to unwind and simply take the time off to relax and spend time with family and friends.”

Data found that full time workers receive around 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, however many believe that a fairer number of holidays for hard workers would be 29 per year.

Plus, 13 per cent of those interviewed stated that their travel plans failed to match up with the time they were allowed, which resulted in them having to take unpaid leave.