UK
workers will cost employers £769m in lost working hours this Christmas as they
prepare themselves for the festive season.
The
survey of 4,346 people by recruitment website reed.co.uk claims more than half
of all employees will spend time organising their seasonal festivities when
they should be working.
A
third of employees will spend up to half a working day organising their
personal festivities, with nearly 14 million people spending between two and
four working days getting things right for Christmas.
Dan Ferrandino, managing director of reed.co.uk,
said: "The key to this time of year is to remain calm and think ahead;
time spent planning now can save you a lot of stress, and potential problems at
work."
Employees
in the South West are twice as likely to take a day off ‘sick’ to plan their
festivities as the average worker. Those in the South East are least likely to
‘take a sickie’, on just 1 per cent, compared to a national average of 3 per
cent.
East
Anglia provides the most conscientious of staff, with only 14 per cent
organising friends and family at work, 10 per cent below the national average.
