The research compiled by serviced office experts officebroker.com, found that one in 20 people, five per cent, had strategically booked their holiday to spite a colleague.
The anonymous poll revealed that 13 per cent of office workers kept quiet about their holiday intentions for fear of co-workers booking the same time.
The study also found that seven per cent of respondents had lied about their holiday plans in order to ‘double bluff’ colleagues.
According to the research, booking holiday time was named by nearly one in ten respondents, nine per cent, as the main cause of conflict in their office.
For 38 per cent of respondents holidays were identified as a potential source of office arguments, however, for 53 per cent, holidays were not a source of conflict at all.
A spokesperson from officebroker.com commented: “Holidays are meant to be relaxing, however all too often the run up can be extremely stressful – especially when you have quite a few people in an office all wanting the same time off.
“It is especially difficult when it comes to school holidays as every parent wants to spend as much time with their children as they can when they’re not at school.
“If colleagues talked to each other rather than scheming and plotting, conflict over holiday would not be caused. I’m glad this is the case for the majority of offices.”
One respondent commented: “The issue of holiday time has caused a sort of Cold War atmosphere in our office. People are scared to mention their plans for the year ahead in case anyone books the same period off.
“For the last couple of years I have been pipped to the post by childless colleagues going on their 18-30 binge holidays to Ibiza.
“I work long hours and don’t get to see my children much so holiday time is extremely precious. I do believe that parents should be given priority when it comes to booking holiday during the school breaks.”
Another respondent said: “The biggest arguments always crop up about who gets the extra days around Christmas and Easter off. I have known people to book their Christmas time on January 1st.
“I’ve never known anyone to deliberately book their holiday to spite a colleague, although to be completely honest, I have contemplated doing it after an office row.”
