Are you using your annual leave?

What’s your firm’s attitude towards annual leave? Is taking a holiday encouraged or simply tolerated?

In smaller firms, annual leave may seem like an inconvenient disruption to service delivery. As such, some workers may feel reluctant to book time off for fear of burdening colleagues or being viewed as ‘unproductive’. However, employees and employers must be aware of the legal position concerning annual leave and the benefits associated with staff holidays.

UK workers are generally entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday each year. This also applies to agency workers, people who work irregular hours, those who are employed on ‘zero-hour’ contracts, and part-time workers (calculated on a pro-rata basis). For those working a five-day week, this means they are entitled to a minimum of 28 days’ holiday each year (which may include bank holidays). Some employers may exceed the legal minimum by offering additional days.

Among the worst culprits for not using their full annual leave entitlement are managers and senior employees. They may believe they are too busy to take time off or that everything will fall apart without them. However, it can be unproductive to not take leave. It can leave one tired, ill, stressed or ‘burnt out’. A holiday provides the opportunity to ‘recharge’, re-evaluate situations and gain a renewed focus.

If you are a manager, also remember to encourage your team to use their annual leave entitlement. It may seem difficult, especially in smaller organisations, to maintain ‘business as usual’ when members of staff are off work – particularly when several are off at the same time – but it is also a problem when staff do not have a proper break.

Managers, of course, need to be mindful of business operations and should communicate with their teams to make sure that holidays are arranged with sufficient notice and that they are planned appropriately and fairly, allowing appropriate cover to be in place.

An added problem in the ever-connected world of the 21^st century means that even when we are away from the office, we are easily reachable on telephone or email. Therefore, wherever possible, do not try to contact colleagues who are on leave and, if you are on holiday, switch off your work devices and don’t fall into the temptation of checking your work emails. Put your out-of-office reply on and try to forget about work for the time being.

Often, having a break from work is good for one’s health and wellbeing and contributes to achieving a work-life balance. It can help improve organisational culture and staff retention when people are encouraged to take time away from the office.