More
than a quarter of property buyers take unplanned time off work to cope with the
stress of buying and moving home.
Homebuyer
‘sickies’ cost UK businesses £129m pounds a year , according to new research by
online recruiters Fish4jobs.
The
research was conducted among 5,605 recent or current property buyers to see
whether buying a home has negative affect on their career.
Fish4jobs
CEO Jonathan Turpin said: “Buying a home requires time and many home buyers
don’t put aside enough time for home viewings, solicitors’ appointments and the
move itself. The best way to ensure buying a home does not have a negative
impact on your career and cause even more stress at work is to schedule enough
time off and to ask your boss for some flexibility.”
The
results showed that in London, the number of property buyers who take extra
days off work rises to one in three. However, in the North East where the
property market is less heated, this figure drops to one in five property
buyers.
Turpin
advises employers to ensure their employees are realistic when they ask for
time off to buy a house.
“From
an employer’s point of view, it’s much better that a member of staff plans for
any last minute hitches by taking extra time off, rather than calling in at
short notice and leaving colleagues in the lurch. Also being flexible with
employees may avoid too many unexpected homebuyer ‘sickies’.
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Fish4jobs
worked with chartered psychologist and associate director of the centre for
Stress Management, Kasia Szymanska.
