Almost 60% in Westmeath didn’t take all their holidays last year

Almost three in five people (57 per cent) in Westmeath didn’t take all their holidays last year, according to research on annual leave undertaken by FRS Recruitment.

This is above the national average, with 42 per cent of people around the country failing to use up all their leave last year.

One in five people in Westmeath didn’t take five days of annual leave or more, which in employment terms represents a week’s leave.

Some 13 per cent didn’t take four days, 23 per cent had three days which went unused, 17 per cent also opted against using up two days of leave, and 11 per cent had one day of their holidays remaining.

The FRS Recruitment Annual Leave Report also had a range of other findings about how people in Westmeath make use of their holiday entitlements and the various employment policies in place around the use of annual leave.

More than nine out of 10 people (92 per cent) in Westmeath used annual leave for foreign travel last year, and three out of five (58 per cent) also used it for domestic travel.

A further 30 per cent used it for family reasons, 15 per cent for personal reasons, and 8 per cent due to illness.

For three out of 10 people (29 per cent) in Westmeath, the longest period of annual leave they took last year was less than a week.

In the case of 43 per cent, their longest break was one week, and 20 per cent took two weeks of holidays.

Meanwhile, 8 per cent say they took a break for longer than two weeks.

Before taking annual leave, a majority (54 per cent) of Westmeath employees say they have to give their employer two weeks’ notice.

Another 29 per cent must provide one month’s notice, and a further 17 per cent in Westmeath only have to inform their work about their leave plans one week or less in advance.

Over two in five people (46 per cent) in Westmeath say unused annual leave is carried into the following year, while three out of 10 (31 per cent) receive a payment in lieu.

However, a quarter of Westmeath employees (23 per cent) say their leave is lost if it is not used.

When it comes to other types of leave taken, almost four in 10 people (38 per cent) in Westmeath say they took sick leave last year, 18 per cent took care leave, and another one in five (20 per cent) took maternity/paternity leave. Two per cent took study leave and 2 per cent took leave due to a bereavement.

A majority of people in Westmeath (54 per cent) would like their employer to introduce unlimited leave, while more than two in every five employees (46 per cent) in the county would also be in favour of a four-day work week, even if it impacted their salary.

A total of 1,886 people took part in the survey used to compile the FRS Annual Leave Report.