Member Article

Two-thirds of UK employees will work during their summer leave

Research commissioned by process management firm Process Bliss has found that more than two-thirds of employees (67%) will spend some time working during their summer holidays working.

The survey aims to understand modern SME working habits and reveal changing expectations about working cultures. 45% of SME employees say that their clients expect them to be available during their summer holiday and 41% say that their boss expects them to be available.

The main reasons given for SME employees working during their summer holidays were: they can’t relax properly on holiday without knowing things are being done (36%); they feel they are being conscientious (28%); worrying that something important will be missed (24%); not trusting colleagues to keep everything in order (16%); and feeling they are the only ones who can do their job (13%).

Alister Esam, CEO of Process Bliss, said: “While working during the summer holidays might sound horrific to some people, working patterns and habits have changed and in 2019 people don’t all feel the need for a complete break

“That said, many people still want and deserve a complete break from work and if they are working because they don’t trust others to get work done or that they believe things will be missed without them, then that is unacceptable and needs to be addressed.”

Of those that will be working over the summer holidays, 67.5% will check email and 34% will call the office for updates. 28% will have direct contact with customers / suppliers and 17% will settle down to do report writing or other written work.

Alister Esam continued: “No-one should ever be expected to work during holidays, or feel that the SME they work for cannot manage for a few weeks without them”.

“There’s also a clear difference between a few quicks checks on email and spending every day of a holiday working. SMEs need to put in place better training programmes to ensure people can take a full break, or establish proper processes for tasks and roles so others in the organisation can follow those and ensure everything gets done as it should do.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon James .