UK workers who work full-time are entitled to 28 days of paid leave per year according to law. That time includes bank holidays and is pro-rated according to how many hours workers put in.
However, The Trade Unions Congress (TUC) now warns that over 2 million workers are being cheated out of vacation time, putting them at risk for burnout. TUC is a federation of 48 trade unions in England and Wales that boasts 5.6 million members.
Recently, TUC conducted research on the state of paid leave for its members, and found that 1.2 million workers were not getting any paid leave, while a million weren’t getting all of the leave to which they are entitled.
Per Sky News: “The TUC says the main reasons workers are losing out is the setting of unrealistic workloads that do not allow time to take leave, employers deliberately denying holiday requests and companies not keeping up to date with the law.”
“At Risk of Burnout”
“Employers have no excuse for robbing staff of their well-earned leave,” says TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, who warns that millions of workers are “at risk of burnout.”
Previous studies have shown that time away from work makes workers more productive. The occasional long weekend won’t cut it, either: research suggests that it takes at least eight days for workers to relax and let go of their responsibilities at work.
The same researchers also recommended taking multiple vacations spread throughout the year, to maximize the psychological benefits of time off.
Of course, here in the U.S., only 76 percent of private-industry workers have any paid vacation days at all. Typical amount of leave for a worker in their first year of a job? Just 10 days.
But that’s no excuse for employers in other countries to cut their workers’ holidays short.
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