Decline in construction workers taking annual leave

New analysis of more than 3,000 companies has revealed the construction industry has seen one of the biggest dips in employees taking annual leave.

The annual leave report, conducted by Access PeopleHR, looked at absence leave data of more than 122,000 employees over the last three years.  

In construction, the number of annual leave days has dropped by 4% in the last two years. This is despite the average allowance in the sector rising by 16% – from 29.4 to 34.1 days, including bank holidays.  

Nationally, the survey found that the average entitlement offered to staff is now 34 days a year, including bank holidays. This has increased by five days annually since 2020, when it stood at 29, meaning staff get an extra working week off. 

Charles Butterworth, managing director 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 are hundreds of complex reasons why some staff in the construction 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.

"Companies need to take action to identify the reasons for the lack of holiday requests, and ensure that they implement ways of working that rectify this.”