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September 2023 - Voluntary

Survey reveals reduction in the amount of annual leave taken by charity employees: A survey by Access PeopleHR looking at absence leave data for the last year has revealed that the average number of annual leave days taken by charity employees has fallen by 4% in the last two years with employers being urged to to better support staff with their wellbeing. 

The Access PeopleHR report looked at the absence leave data across three years for comparison from 122,000 employees at 3,175 UK companies covering 18 sectors. 

The findings revealed that the average number of annual leave days taken by charity workers has fallen by 4%, from an average of 43.2 days in 2021 to 41.5 days in 2023. 

Managing director, Charles Butterworth, at Access PeopleHR, said

"Whether it’s financial worries, busy work schedules or simply not having enough booked in your calendar to justify annual leave, there’s hundreds of complex reasons why some staff in the charity sector may not be utilising all of their annual leave.

"The fact that holiday entitlement has grown so much in recent years is promising, however it will become pointless if they’re seen as job perks - but people are too busy to take them.”

Also commenting on the findings, Laura Millar, head of HR at Charity Finance Group (CFG), said "Our members are telling us that recruiting for staff and volunteer roles is one of their main challenges. This puts additional pressure on charity staff and so it’s not entirely surprising to see that annual leave is not being taken in some circumstances. Whatever the reasons for annual leave not being taken, it’s vital that charities focus on the wellbeing of their staff. The charity sector has made great strides in this area, with the introduction of wellbeing weeks and other measures and initiatives, but we must get the basics right.”

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