You should be doing this right now rather than being at work.
WHILE memories of your summer holiday break may be fading as quickly as an unwanted Christmas tree on the side of the road, new data has revealed Australians should right now be busy badgering their bosses for more time off work — even though the new year has just started.
The problem is the sheer amount of time people have accrued in annual leave.
It amounts to more than 100 million days in total and if it’s not taken, it weighs heavily on the company’s books.
Roy Morgan data for the 12 months to March 2015 showed that, on average, each Australian had stashed away 21 days annual leave.
“Australia’s six million fulltime workers have no less than 123,510,000 days’ annual leave accrued between them. That’s a lot of leave — more than four working weeks per person,” said Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine.
“With the average fulltime leave allowance being four work weeks per annum, this would suggest that people are not taking much time off. Yet contrary to what their leave balances might suggest, our data reveals that Australia’s fulltime workers do take holidays. In the last 12 months, 75 per cent went on at least one trip.”
The Gold Coast is a top spot for domestic away breaks. Ellen Guiney and Charlotte Wilkin (L-R) enjoy the fine weather at Surfers Paradise Beach on their holiday from Melbourne.Source:News Limited
Figures from the 12 months to September 2015, given to news.com.au, show less than 10 per cent of people had no leave but a whopping 27 per cent had more than five weeks up their sleeves.
With the average Australia earning just over $74,000 a year that means bosses might have to pay out more than $7000 to an employee if they decided to move to another job.
Workers in wholesaling had the most leave at 25 days followed by those in the civil service, agriculture and transport with 24 days on average.
Those in construction had the least annual leave accrued with 15 days on average, although still more than a fortnight’s worth.
Business groups and economists have urged employers to tell staff to take more time off to wipe the cost from their books.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said uncertainly around what the economy will bring in 2016 was encouraging bosses to get tough on leave.
“Accrued leave balances are like a debt for businesses and it’s also a debt that goes up with every wage increase. Every week of leave your staff take helps your bottom line,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
Tim Ross, former host of the Channel 7 TV program No Leave No Life.Source:Supplied
In 2009, Tourism Australia launched a campaign called ‘no leave, no life’ to encourage Australians to spend their holiday entitlements, which they estimated at the time to be worth an estimated $31 billion, on domestic breaks. It even spawned its own Channel 7 show featuring quick breaks people could take at home.
“The amount of people with annual leave accrued represents a great opportunity for destination marketers and tourism operators to target these people and offer suggestions on how and where to spend their leave.” Ms Levine said.
Although the campaign has now finished, Margy Osmond from the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) said the sentiment was still there.
“Australians are well known leave hoarders but it’s time they put them to good use by taking a good old fashioned Aussie holiday,” she told news.com.au.
“The TTF summer holiday consumer survey shows that 50 per cent of Australians will be choosing work over a holiday over the summer break. I’m encouraging Australians to tap into that big bank of annual leave and take a holiday to recharge the batteries in 2016.
“Taking a holiday is good for the economy and good for the soul. Whether it’s an interstate holiday sitting on a sunny beach or exploring the Aussie outback or a day trip out of the big city; taking a break away from the pressures of the daily grind is good for the wellbeing of everyone.”
So maybe, just maybe, it’s OK to slip that annual leave form onto your boss’ desk
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét