UK organisations will receive free work valued at £1.2bn this year because their staff will not take up all their holiday entitlement, research reveals.
A survey of more than 2,000 workers carried out for online travel company Expedia.co.uk, shows that employees are, in effect, doing 14.3 million days of work for nothing.
One in eight of those polled said they rarely had a holiday from work, while one in 10 said they put in a working week of at least 50 hours.
More than a third of those questioned said they believed workers were afraid to ask for time off, which was fuelling the UK’s long-hours culture.
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One in four admitted they took a “sickie” when they could not face going in to work.
Elyas Chowdhury, marketing director at Expedia, said: “With a £1.2bn payout lining our employers’ pockets, there’s a long way to go before we take all the holiday we’re entitled to.”
