If having four days off work over the Easter weekend is an unusual
treat, you definitely need to have a rethink, writes Nathalie
Towner
A week skiing in the Austrian Alps, a fortnight in the Caribbean or
a romantic weekend in Paris are what most of us dream of during our
working hours. Why then do so many ITers not make full use of their
holiday entitlement?
"I am allowed 20 days' holiday a year but last year I took 16,"
says software officer Mark Smith. "I didn't use all my holiday
because the deadline of the project I was working on did not allow
time for me to take my remaining holiday entitlement."
Smith's experience is all too common in the IT world, where
essential projects have to be implemented within strict time
constraints.
To compensate for this, some companies allow their employees to
carry unused holiday entitlement over into the following year or
offer money for the days not taken. However, this is rarely an
adequate solution.
Smith has a colleague who has been gaining holiday every year for
the past three years and is starting to realise that he will never
be able to use up all the time owing to him.
Workers in the UK get the least statutory annual leave of all
European countries and also have to manage on the lowest number of
bank holidays, according to a Trades Union Congress (TUC) survey.
But despite being at the bottom of the pile, UK workers still give
up millions of paid holiday days each year.
"Work is far more pressurised than it used to be, so it is extra
important for people to take their holiday," says Sally Dench,
senior research fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies. "It
is not humanly possible to keep working without a break. People
come back from holiday feeling refreshed, you need to give your
brain a break."
Workers who take holiday and who do not work long hours can
actually be more productive than their stressed-out colleagues.
France has a higher statutory minimum of 25 days holiday, (compared
to the UK's 20 days for those who work a five-day week), and
operates a 35-hour week, yet there appears to be no ill effect on
the country's productivity.
Further research carried out by the TUC shows that more than half
of all managerial and professional employees work extra hours to
deal with excessive workloads.
"There is a tendency at managerial level to not take all your
holiday because you want to get things done," says Rob Delaney, a
senior IT manager. Last year he used 22 of his 25 days holiday, but
he intends to use his full entitlement this year.
"I try to book holidays in between projects or work projects around
my holiday - it is all about planning properly," he says.
Organisation is definitely key to getting away from the office.
Dench is well aware that IT professionals work to tough deadlines
and have to be present when a project goes live, but she also
believes that people are guilty of putting pressure on
themselves.
"The place won't collapse if you are not there," she says. "It is
often about people not being organised - the same can apply to
people who work long hours."
There will always be work to do, but most ITers will have periods
when there is some slack. However, some people harbour the belief
that taking holiday will have an adverse affect on their career
prospects.
"There is a culture of presenteeism in many organisations," says
Theo Blackwell, policy specialist at the Industrial Society.
"People believe that just by being seen to be there they will be
viewed as being more productive, but this leads to increased stress
and poorer performance over time."
Managers need to make sure people take their holiday, and they
should set an example by taking time off themselves. If the company
culture encourages people to forego their full holiday entitlement
it can be difficult for one individual to break the mould.
But sometimes it is the employee who happily chooses to give up
their holiday because they have such a strong commitment to their
work.
"I haven't had a proper holiday in two years," says IT manager
Stuart Rogers. All I have had is a couple of days off at a time. I
keep meaning to go but then things keep coming up, the time before
last it was the office move, and then there was 11
September."
Rogers is under pressure because he is part of a small team and,
because he set up a lot of the bespoke applications in the company
himself, he does not like to be away for too long. "A couple of
years ago I kept putting off taking a holiday and the chairman came
to see me and insisted I take a week off," he says. "I ended up
going to Turkey for a week and I felt a lot happier in myself when
I got back."
Remember, the benefits from a holiday do not just come from a
fortnight lounging about in the sun. A few days tagged onto a
weekend or a random day in the middle of the week can all
contribute towards a healthier work/life balance. So get organised,
get booking - and don't give anyone your mobile number.
Why UK workers are not using their holiday
entitlement
Research carried out by the Institute for
Employment Studies identified the following as the main reasons why
staff fail to take a break:
- Pressure arising from heavier workloads, increasingly demanding
customers (in particular, increased expectation of 24x7 service),
greater competition, fewer staff and tighter budgets
- Poor organisation. Although few staff think they would be able
to reduce their working hours if they were better at managing their
time, in some organisations there are clearly issues with
prioritisation, individual inefficiencies and work
organisation
- Long-hours cultures. Working long hours is often interpreted as
demonstrating commitment. The example set by managers working long
hours and peer pressure can generate such cultures. Job insecurity
and individuals feeling the need to prove their indispensability
are issues for some employees
- Individuals' strong commitment to their work, colleagues and
customers. In some cases this is because they enjoy their work and
take a personal pride in it. In others, this commitment arises out
of a desire to enhance career prospects
- A need to improve pay through overtime payments, commission or
performance-related pay.
Source: Breaking the Long Hours Culture by Kodz, Stebler,
Kersley and O'Regan (Institute for Employment Studies)