A new survey shows that employees in Ireland need an average of 10 consecutive days — including weekends — to properly recharge from work, below the European average of 13 days.
The survey, from payroll and HR solutions provider SD Worx, also suggests the way Irish employees are taking annual leave and recovering from work is changing, reports RTE.
Rather than relying on one long annual break, almost 60% of Irish workers now favour a mix of short, ad hoc breaks and longer-stay holidays.
The research surveyed 5,936 employers and 16,500 employees across 16 European countries, including 1,000 employees and 301 employers in the Republic of Ireland, reports RTE.
It said the Irish findings point to a preference for flexible and fragmented annual leave, with important implications for how employers plan capacity, manage workloads and maintain service levels throughout the year.
Today’s research shows that over 70% of employees here say they were able to take all their holidays last year, while 55% say they can take time off without creating additional pressure for colleagues, reports RTE.
Ireland also stands out for strong manager support when it comes to holidays, with 54% of employees encouraged to take leave regularly compared to a European average of 41%.
While employees increasingly favour more flexible leave patterns, 76% of workers in Ireland must make advance requests for leave, with an average required lead time of 27 days, reports RTE.
SD Worx said this suggests that Irish workers’ preference for shorter, more ad-hoc breaks creates a disconnect between employee expectations for flexibility and the employer need for predictability.
As leave becomes more distributed, organisations need better visibility of capacity, clearer team agreements and workforce planning tools that can support both wellbeing and business continuity, it added, reports RTE.
Eimear Byrne, Managing Director of SD Worx Ireland, said this is not simply a conversation about how much leave employees have.
“It’s about how leave is taken and the increasing complexity that it creates for organisations trying to plan capacity, manage workloads, and maintain service levels,” she said, reports RTE.
“Employers are managing a more complex leave landscape than ever before. They still need to be able to accommodate peak holiday season, but they must also ensure that the business can operate smoothly throughout the entire year as leave becomes more distributed,” she added, reports RTE.
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