UK construction workers take less holiday than those employed in other sectors of the economy with most saying it is because they feel “too busy”.
According to a survey, conducted by online travel agent Sunshine, 34% of UK employees finish their working year with unused annual leave and most lose that time by not being able to transfer it to the following year or be paid extra wages.
However, only 4% of workers said that they didn’t take all of their holiday because they “didn’t want to or didn’t feel it was needed”.
The study questioned 3,172 people aged 18 and over from around the UK, all of whom were in full-time employment and entitled to 28 days paid annual leave as standard.
An equal number of respondents from 30 different sectors took part.
According to the results, the five sectors in which workers take the least holidays are:
- Construction – 4 days
- Healthcare – 5 days
- Retail – 7 days
- Media and journalism – 8 days
- Marketing – 10 days
Chris Clarkson, managing director of Sunshine, said: “I can’t see why anyone with an allocated, paid holiday allowance would not take it all over the course of the year.
“It’s understandable that work gets busy from time to time, but that’s all the more reason to take some time off … not a reason to just sacrifice your annual leave.
“This is actually a really worrying trend, particularly because people working in construction and healthcare can’t afford to make mistakes. Not taking time away from work can lead to tiredness and errors.”
Image: Balfour Beatty construction workers in London (Balfour Beatty)
