Over 40% of workers failed to use their full holiday entitlements last year, a new survey has found.

The survey from FRS Recruitment warns that one-in-five people (20%) did not use five or more days of annual leave, which in employment terms represents a week off work.

Some 16% didn’t take four days, 19% had three days which went unused, 9% opted against using up two days of leave and 3% had one day of their holidays remaining.

FRS Recruitment General Manager Lynne McCormack told Breakfast Briefing that workers risk burnout by not taking their holidays.

"Annual leave is such an important part of our professional life," she said.

"We talk to hundreds of employers and candidates every day and it's arguably one of the main points after salary as part of negotiation for a role.

"There's possibly two main reasons [for not taking holidays] - firstly workload, some people feel they're unable to step away for long periods of time.

"It's so important to recharge and refresh. If people aren't taking their holidays, you run the risk of burnout."

'Hybrid working'

Ms McCormack said hybrid working brought in since the COVID-19 pandemic may also be responsible.

"At the other end of the spectrum hybrid working is so popular now people are doing less commutes," she said.

"So they could be getting time back and more flexibility for things that they maybe would have booked full days off for before".

Ms McCormack said carrying over days into the next year also varies by employer.

"What we've seen is three of out 10 people said they would carry over unused days," she said.

"27% said they could get payment in lieu but three of out 10 people said if they didn't use them, they would lose them.

"Employers should definitely try to encourage people to use their leave entitlement so they're not in that position".

Close-up of calendar pages, 4-4-13. Image: Anton Starikov / Alamy

Ms McCormack said even those who take annual leave are only taking short breaks.

"What came out on top was your standard two weeks... but quite a significant number of people said when they were taking blocs of annual leave [it] was less than four days," she said.

"It's quite a short time away from work to be able to recharge.

"It takes a few days for the wind down to kick in and to really be able to switch off," she added.

More than seven out of 10 people (72%) surveyed used annual leave for foreign travel last year and more than half (56%) for domestic travel.

A further 24% used it for family reasons, 20% for personal reasons and 4% due to illness.

Main image: Sunset at Port Barton Beach in the Philippines, 12-11-19. Image: Simon Dannhauer / Alamy