One in two people from County Kildare didn't take all their holidays last year — study

One in two people (49 per cent) in Kildare didn’t take all their holidays last year.

According to research on annual leave undertaken by FRS Recruitment, this is above the national average, with 42 per cent of people around the country failing to use up all their leave last year. 

A total of 1,886 people took part in the survey used to compile the FRS Annual Leave Report.

One in five people (22 per cent) in Kildare didn’t take five days of annual leave or more, which in employment terms, represents a week’s leave.

14 per cent didn’t take four days, 27 per cent had three days which went unused, 10 per cent also opted against using up two days of leave and 11 per cent had one day of their holidays remaining.

Speaking about the research, Lynne McCormack, General Manager with FRS Recruitment, said: "Holidays and annual leave are such an important part of professional life for employees in Kildare and their employers... yet before now, there haven’t been many statistics available showing how it is used and the various policies associated with annual leave in the workplace.

"With this research, we in FRS Recruitment wanted to take a closer look at how annual leave is being treated and get a sense of how widely different leave policies are applied." 

REST IN PEACE: Video posted to YouTube pays tribute to late doctor from Newbridge, County Kildare

The late Doctor Brian Kelly passed away suddenly in Australia

Ms McCormack continued: "Holidays are a key point of negotiation between Kildare employees and their employers and are vital in maintaining work / life balance.

"They play a significant role in how we manage the many demands on our time outside of work, so it is useful to get a practical sense of how they are actually being used. 

"What was surprising was the number of people who are not making full use of their leave, both in Kildare and around the country... even more eye-opening are the number of days leave that haven’t been used, with five days or more not being used by one in five people in Kildare last year.

"Work wise, effectively that’s a week of holidays going unused for those people."

She further said: "Not using their annual leave may suit those in Kildare who are able to carry their leave into the following year, or who receive payment in lieu.

"However, there is a sizeable number of people locally and nationally who face losing any days that go unused.

"When we do holiday, it is also interesting to consider the length of breaks we take: the most popular choice nationally was two weeks in one go, which would traditionally have been seen as the standard, main holiday of the year.

"Yet, for one in four people, their longest break was less than one week."

Over 25,000 Kildare people apply for passports in 2024 so far

Figures issued by Department of Foreign Affairs

Kildare GAA: Senioro wins for Naas, Clane and Athy

All the weekend results in senior, intermediate and junior

'UNLIMITED LEAVE'

Ms McCormack also said that FRS Recruitment we have also seen a number of candidates interested in the concept of 'unlimited leave'.

She explained: "While this has gained some traction in the US, it isn’t a common policy in Ireland.

"Yet, a sizeable number of people in Kildare and nationally would like to see it introduced by their employers, despite the significant proportion of the employees who aren’t using up their allocated leave as it currently stands.

"A majority of people would also support a four day work week, even though it may impact on their salaries.

"The use of holidays and annual leave is clearly evolving, both from a policy perspective and in terms of what we do with that time."

"Longer term, this will have implications for how we view our days off and how they are managed by our employers too," Ms McCormack concluded. 

FURTHER FINDINGS

The FRS Recruitment Annual Leave Report also had a range of other findings about how people in Kildare make use of their holiday entitlements and the various employment policies in place around the use of annual leave.

More than half of people (56 per cent) in Kildare used annual leave for foreign travel last year and another 2two in five (38 per cent) used it for domestic travel.

A further five per cent used it for family reasons, three per cent for personal reasons and three per cent due to illness.  

For one in four people (25 per cent) in Kildare, the longest period of annual leave they took last year was less than a week.

In the case of 35 per cent, their longest break was one week and 37 per cent took two weeks of holidays.

Only three per cent say they took a break for longer than two weeks. 

Before taking annual leave, two in five (41 per cent) of all Kildare employees say they have to give their employer two weeks’ notice.

Another 47 per cent must provide one month’s notice and a further eight per cent in Kildare only have to tell their work about their leave plans one week or less in advance.

One in three people (35 per cent) in Kildare say unused annual leave is carried into the following year and one in four (25 per cent) receive a payment in lieu.

However, three in every 10 Kildare employees (31 per cent) say their leave is lost if it is not used.  

When it comes to other types of leave taken: almost three out of 10 people (28 per cent) in Kildare say they took sick leave last year, 21 per cent took care leave, one in five (20 per cent) took maternity / paternity leave, two per cent took study leave and one per cent took leave due to a bereavement.

A majority of people in Kildare (51 per cent) would like their employer to introduce unlimited leave, while more than half (55 per cent) in the county would also be in favour of a four day work week, even if it impacted on their salary.