Employees plan to use more holiday entitlement in 2010

More than a third of UK workers (38%) did not use up all their holiday allowance in 2009, compared to 81% of staff who intend to take all their annual leave in 2010.

The findings, from the Institute of Payroll Professionals’ (IPP) Time for a holiday survey, also revealed 28% of respondents only took one holiday in 2009 compared to 16% who are not planning to take more than one holiday in 2010.

Lindsay Melvin, chief executive of the IPP, said: “As the UK slowly emerges from the recession, more employees will have the financial confidence and job security to take time off from work and go on holiday.

“All workers have the right to at least 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave and it is the individual’s responsibility to take the statutory minimum holiday every year. However, for those who did not take their entire annual leave in 2009, it is important to check with their employer to determine whether untaken days are allowed to be carried over to this year.

“As important is ensuring they follow the correct procedure when booking annual leave, which varies from one organisation to the next. The last thing staff want to happen, as they get ready to go on holiday, is find out their employer has not approved their time off. If they have any questions, the best people to speak are your HR and payroll department.”

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