Nearly one-third of Clare workers didn't take all their holidays last year

Up to 3 out of 10 people, or 29%, in Clare didn’t take all their holidays last year, according to research on annual leave undertaken by FRS Recruitment.

This is slightly below the national average, with 42% of people around the country failing to use up all their leave last year.

A total of 1,886 people took part in the survey used to compile the FRS Annual Leave Report. FRS Recruitment is one of Ireland’s leading recruitment agencies with 10 offices nationwide.

They are part of the multimillion euro social enterprise co-operative, FRS Co-Op.

Speaking about the research, Lynne McCormack, General Manager with FRS Recruitment said, “Holidays and annual leave are such an important part of professional life for employees in Clare and their employers. Yet before now there haven’t been many statistics available showing how it is used and the various policies associated with annual leave in the workplace.

“With this research, we in FRS Recruitment wanted to take a closer look at how annual leave is being treated and get a sense of how widely different leave policies are applied."

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1 in 5 people in Clare didn’t take 5 days of annual leave or more, which in employment terms represents a week’s leave.

7% didn’t take 4 days, 17% had 3 days which went unused, 29% opted against using up 2 days of leave and 11% had 1 day of their holidays remaining.

The FRS Recruitment Annual Leave Report also had a range of other findings about how people in Clare make use of their holiday entitlements and the various employment policies in place around the use of annual leave.

Almost 3 in 5 people (59%) in Clare used annual leave for foreign travel last year and 1 in 3 (32%) for domestic travel. A further 8% used it for family reasons, 9% for personal reasons and 4% due to illness.

For more than one in four people (27%) in Clare, the longest period of annual leave they took last year was less than a week. In the case of 31% their longest break was one week and 37% took two weeks of holidays. Only 5% say they took a break for longer than two weeks.

Before taking annual leave, almost half (47%) of all Clare employees say they have to give their employer two weeks’ notice. Another 44% must provide one month’s notice and a further 5% in Clare only have to tell their work about their leave plans one week or less in advance.

"Holidays are a key point of negotiation between Clare employees and their employers and are vital in maintaining work/ life balance," Ms McCormack continued.

"They play a significant role in how we manage the many demands on our time outside of work. So it is useful to get a practical sense of how they are actually being used.

“What was surprising was the number of people who are not making full use of their leave, both in Clare and around the country.

"Even more eye opening are the number of days leave that haven’t been used, with 5 days or more not being used by 1 in 5 people in Clare last year. Work wise, effectively that’s a week of holidays going unused for those people.

“Not using their annual leave may suit those in Clare who are able to carry their leave into the following year, or who receive payment in lieu. However there is a sizeable number of people locally and nationally who face losing any days that go unused.

“When we do holiday, it is also interesting to consider the length of breaks we take. The most popular choice for people in Clare was two weeks in one go, which would traditionally have been seen as the standard, main holiday of the year. Yet for 1 in 4 people, their longest break was less than one week."

Three in 10 people (29%) in Clare say unused annual leave is carried into the following year and 4 in 10 (39%) receive a payment in lieu. However 1 in every 5 Clare employees (22%) say their leave is lost if it is not used.

When it comes to other types of leave taken, 1 in 4 people (26%) in Clare say they took sick leave last year, 23% took care leave, 1 in 6 (17%) took maternity/ paternity leave, 2% took study leave and 1% took leave due to a bereavement.

More than 2 in 5 people in Clare (46%) would like their employer to introduce unlimited leave, while a majority (53%) in the county would also be in favour of a 4 day work week, even if it impacted on their salary.

“In FRS Recruitment we have also seen a number of candidates interested in the concept of ‘unlimited leave’. While this has gained some traction in the US, it isn’t a common policy in Ireland," said Ms McCormack.

"Yet a sizeable number of people in Clare and nationally would like to see it introduced by their employers, despite the significant proportion of the employees who aren’t using up their allocated leave as it currently stands.

"A majority of people would also support a 4 day work week, even though it may impact on their salaries.

“The use of holidays and annual leave is clearly evolving, both from a policy perspective and in terms of what we do with that time. Longer term this will have implications for how we view our days off and how they are managed by our employers too,” Ms. McCormack concluded.

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