A new survey tells us that Brits are more likely to actually take the vacation time they receive, while Americans are more likely to forego some of the vacation leave days that they have earned. Key findings from the survey, which was commissioned by British Airways Holidays, include the following:
—More than two fifths of full-time British employees took all their vacation days last year, whereas just a third of Americans took it all.
—More than 21 percent of Americans who didn’t take all their vacation last year said it was because they felt as if they were letting their employers down.
—Full time workers in Los Angeles spend the most amount of time working on vacation compared to workers in New York and San Francisco, with the average person in Los Angeles spending 34.5 minutes a day working.
—Almost a quarter (23 percent) of Americans think not taking enough vacations is affecting their health.
—As for earned vacation time, 18 percent of full time workers in the UK are entitled to 30 days or more of vacation from their employers, whereas just 9 percent of Americans have 30 days or more.
—On average, Brits are taking 22 days of vacation per year while Americans are only using 14.
—Overall, more than 42 percent of British people managed to use all of their vacation time last year, whereas just 37 percent of Americans took it all.
—The biggest reason for both Americans and Brits not taking all their holiday last year was that there was simply too much work to do. Two fifths of Brits (41 percent) and the same number of Americans (42 percent) said this was why didn’t take it all.
—When they do get away, it seems workers on both sides of the Atlantic are still not switching off. Brits in full time work spend an average of 26 minutes a day still working on vacation, while Americans will spend even longer doing the same (31 minutes.)
—One in 10 Americans admit to spending between one and one-and-a-half hours a day working when they are meant to be relaxing on vacation, and those on a lower income are working the longest while they are away.
—42 percent of full time American employees also said they contact their colleagues while the colleague is on vacation – even worse, 10 percent of this group does so frequently. Similarly, 40 percent of British full-time workers said they contact their colleagues while the colleague is on vacation, with 11 percent of these saying they do so frequently.
—Americans and Brits are both fully productive for approximately three quarters of the time they are contracted to work – in other words, they are productive for a six-hour workday.
—Americans who work in education are productive for 79 percent of their workdays, whereas Americans in sales, media and marketing are typically productive for only 70 percent.
—Brits and Americans in the healthcare industry are contracted to work the longest hours: 21 percent of Americans work 10 or more hours work a day, compared with 23 percent of Brits.
—In the US, those who worked in sales, media and marketing had on average the least amount of vacation days a year with 13 days allowance, compared to those working in finance, who receive on average 17 days of vacation day allowance a year.
The research was conducted by Censuswide, with 2,045 full-time employee respondents in the US and 1,009 full-time employee respondents in UK, from January 8-13. The survey was conducted from a random sample of US and UK adults.
