50% have changed or cancelled a day off due to a work matter

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Joanne Swann
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As the UK Government plans to launch a code of practice to give workers ‘the right to switch off‘,  a survey of work-age adults across GB by YouGov for Purbeck Insurance Services, has found that work is intruding on home life for the vast majority of people. 

This is particularly true for those aged 25-49 and women who were found to spend marginally more time working in their personal time than men. Worryingly 1 in 10 people habitually forego some of their annual leave each year.

  • 80% of people have worked beyond their contractual hours. 50% of those surveyed stated this has happened many times and those aged 25-49 were most likely to put the extra hours in (84%) while 18-24 year olds were least likely (64%).  Only 12% of those surveyed have never worked over their agreed hours.
  • 68% have looked at emails outside of their contractual hours. This is a frequent occurrence for 39% of those surveyed and again, 25-49 year olds check emails more than any other age group (75%).
  • Women are a little more likely to work beyond their contractual hours (82%) than men (77%) and to look at work emails outside of their usual working hours (70% versus 67% for men).
  • 50% of those surveyed have changed or cancelled a day off due to a work matter. Again this is more true of women (52%) than men (49%).
  • 37% have not taken all of their allocated annual leave.  For 18% this has happened a few times, but more than 1 in 10 people (13%) have failed to take all of their annual leave many times.  People living in Scotland are least likely to take their full holiday allowance (45%) and more common amongst men (40%) and those aged 50-64 (42%).
  • 79% support giving workers the right not to be contacted by their employer outside of their working hours, with 49% strongly supporting this.  Just 13% oppose the right and this was more likely to be in the 65+ age group (19%).  Women (83%) more than men (75%) were most likely to support the right to ‘switch off’.

Purbeck Insurance Services, the provider of personal guarantee insurance to small business owners and directors commissioned the survey in response to the Labour Government’s ‘Make Work Pay’ which includes the right to switch offii).

Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Insurance Services said:

One way to address financial fears on a practical level is through Personal Guarantee Insurance which can offer small business owners greater confidence when securing a personal guarantee backed loan.  This innovative insurance specifically for small businesses includes advice and mentoring support if a firm gets into financial distress as well as specialist mediation support when the debt needs to be settled.

Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Insurance Services

Joanne Swann, Content Manager, WorkWellPro
Editor at Workplace Wellbeing Professional | Website |  + posts

Joanne is the editor for Workplace Wellbeing Professional and has a keen interest in promoting the safety and wellbeing of the global workforce. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies, she taught English in China and Vietnam for two years. Before joining Work Well Pro, Joanne worked as a marketing coordinator for luxury property, where her responsibilities included blog writing, photography, and video creation.

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