Research shows more than two million UK workers are not getting the time off they are entitled to, prompting calls for enforcement action to stop firms cheating staff out of holiday.
Analysis by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) estimates 1.2 million people are not getting any paid leave at all, while a million are not getting their minimum paid leave entitlement.
This equates to one in 12 workers missing out on nearly £3bn worth of paid leave a year, according to the TUC.
The sectors in which workers are most likely to lose out are agriculture (14.9%), mining and quarrying (14.7%) and accommodation and food (13.9%).
The TUC says the main reasons workers are losing out is the setting of unrealistic workloads that do not allow time to take leave, employers deliberately denying holiday requests and companies not keeping up to date with the law.
Image: Workers in agriculture are most likely to lose out on leave, says the TUC
Workers are entitled to a statutory annual minimum of 28 days paid leave (pro rata and including public holidays).
Minimum holiday entitlements are a vital part of reducing overwork, according to the TUC, which warned that working excessive hours increases the risk of developing heart disease, stress, mental illness, strokes, and diabetes.
The organisation is pressing the government for a crackdown on employers who deny staff their statutory holiday entitlement.
This would include giving HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) the power to ensure that workers are fully compensated for missed holidays.
The government has recently consulted on enforcing holiday entitlements, but has yet to announce any plans.
TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady has warned millions of workers are "at risk of burnout".
She said: "Employers have no excuse for robbing staff of their well-earned leave.
"UK workers put in billions of hours of unpaid overtime as it is.
"The government must toughen up enforcement to stop bosses cheating staff out of their leave."
peanutbuttertuxedo on July 27th, 2018 at 14:50 UTC »
When I started at a new company they put in my offer 4 weeks vacation. When I went to book after getting my managers approval it was rejected and I was told I had to work my full year to get the 4 weeks... after a full year of no vacation I applied for my 4 weeks off in January and was rejected again. I contacted a labor lawyer and after a few emails I was allowed to take my month off to capture last years vacation.
When my review came up I was denied my bonus due to “ too many days missed”.
Contacted that lawyer again and was terminated when he contacted them due to my poor review. I’m sure I’m going to get a nice pay out for this but my lawyer says it will take at least a year or more.
Why offer the vacation if I can’t take it!
Jlpeaks on July 27th, 2018 at 12:58 UTC »
I’ve recently switched jobs, in my old job you’d have to pray to the sun god Ra if you wanted to know how many holiday days you had left. Trying to take them was even worse than that and that’s ignoring the fact they expected us to fill in a form in October which should include our holiday requests for a whole 18months later.
Where I work now I have access to my own timesheets, I can see what holiday I’ve taken and what I’ve got left. I’m new to the organisation so haven’t taken any yet but I get the impression the requests are authorised as long as they are within a reasonable timeframe.
Chazmer87 on July 27th, 2018 at 11:50 UTC »
My old work: boss says he can't squeeze me in for any holidays this year but will give me them next year... That's fine, it's happened before.
6 months later he's fired
(you would need to have that in writing, sorry you can't get those holidays)
Cunts
went to citizens advice and they couldn't help either
Cunts
Edit: if any of you nice folk are UK lawyers and feel like sending them a scary letter gimme a shout, I'm gonna try small claims court based on a few comments from here