Half of British workers don’t use their full holiday allowance 

holiday allowance

Almost half the British workforce do not use their full holiday allowance because “they don’t have the time”, according to new research.

Brits were polled on their attitudes towards using their holiday allowance, work/life balance and time management skills, to discover that Brits are not taking advantage their well-deserved holiday entitlement.

One in seven Brits confessed to not using their full holiday allowance, losing an average of 4.6 days a year! Almost half of those who don’t use their holiday allowance feel as if they don’t have the time, while 44 per cent said they can’t afford to take the time off work.

The study revealed that one in five of British who do not use the full holiday entitlement regret doing so, and over a third regret working long hours which leads them to missing out on socialising and me-time.  For those who do use their full holiday allowance, a third regret not switching off and spending an hour a day checking work emails.

British workers were also polled on their time management skills to discover that one in eight of Brits have poor management skills – in both their work and personal life.

Brits waste an average 5.5 hours a week making small talk in the office, waste 6 hours every week commuting to the office, and spend 4 hours sat in traffic.

With this in mind, Monarch have discovered Brits top seven tips on how to manage at work and home to make room for holidays:

  1. Make to do lists – 49 per cent
  2. Create a schedule for tasks, make it a routine – 20 per cent
  3. Bulk cook meals to save time later in the week – 20 per cent
  4. Put a time limit on watching TV/films – 13 per cent
  5. Digital detox/regular social media breaks – 11 per cent
  6. Work from home to save time commuting – 10 per cent
  7. Get public transport to free up time on the journey e.g. read, emails – 7 per cent

Rob Foulkes, Head of Digital & Marketing at Monarch commented: “It’s interesting to see that so many Brits wish they could go on more holidays yet, almost half didn’t actually use up their full holiday allowance last year. That’s why we’ve created the Flights Quicker Than Tool, to help Brits find out where they can save time and make the most of the holiday they are entitled to.”