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Younger workers aged between 18 and 24 and those who work fully remote are most likely to sacrifice their annual leave , prioritising work commitments over taking a break , according to research by travel-focused employee rewards platform , Offwork .

In a survey of 1,000 full time UK workers , 41 % reported typically having five or more days left by the end of the year . Based on the average hourly rate of £ 18.64 , this equates to £ 6.6 billion worth of untaken holiday among 24.9 million full time employees .

Beyond rolling leave over to the next year , Brits often don ’ t use their full entitlement due to reasons such as personal choice , feeling they don ’ t need a break , heavy workloads , staff shortages or poor planning .

The data also reveals that employees sell an equivalent of £ 3.7 billion worth of holiday back to their companies each year , with 23 % of those eligible choosing to sell five or six days .

Even when Brits do take a break , just over half feel guilty to some degree ( 51 %). More than over a quarter ( 29 %) will ‘ always ’ or often ’ work extra time to make up for annual leave , and a similar amount will regularly think about work tasks when they ’ re out of office .

Ruth Kudzi , a psychology and neuroscience expert , who has written a global bestselling book called How to Feel Better , says disconnecting early is key to properly switching off .

She advises : “ It sounds obvious , but the first step to switching off is to create boundaries with colleagues . Make clear handover documents and go through these with anyone you need to , ensuring there are no loose ends you will be chased for .

“ Create a physical as well as a mental cut off from work so you feel different as you step into holiday mode and consider things like having a shower or bath , getting out in nature or doing some journalling , meditation or yoga to reduce levels of cortisol and adrenaline and help you unwind .

“ Also , rather than thinking you ’ re the only one who can solve things , remind yourself that there are other people who can do that and reflect on how you can reduce the feelings of pressure / responsibility .”

Offwork ’ s research comes at a time when the UK Government is considering giving workers a legal ‘ right to disconnect ’, with employers banned from contacting staff outside hours . This is already the law in several countries including France , Greece , Italy , Portugal and Spain . x

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