UK employees struggle to ‘switch off’ from work on holiday

British workers still feel like they have to work on holiday, with one third admitting they can only completely shut off when they go on a long-haul trip.

A poll of 2,000 employees discovered that one in five are more likely to answer calls from the office or respond to emails if they are close to home.

Meanwhile, workers only feel out of their boss’ reach when they visit countries that are at least 1,000 miles away.

“Sometimes, you just want a quick getaway and don’t want to go too far,” said Sean Doyle, from British Airways, who commissioned the research as part of its Discover a Different Side to Florida campaign.

“But if you really want to switch off from work and forget about what’s happening in the office, you may want to head further afield.

“Going on a long-haul trip also gives you a great opportunity to take in a different side to life than the one you are used to, at the same time as being able to switch off from work for a while.”

47 per cent of UK workers claimed that it’s hard to switch off from work when they are meant to be enjoying annual leave, with 22 per cent saying they are more likely to respond to emails or take calls from their boss if they stay close to home.

Three in ten revealed that their boss feels they are still contactable as they haven’t gone too far, while 41 per cent believe being in a similar time zone makes them seem more available.

As a result, 43 per cent of disgruntled employees have been tempted to turn their phone off all together to stop their boss catching up with them.