Retail workers have come third in a new survey of UK professions taking the least amount of annual leave on average per year by using only a quarter of the allowance that is given to them on average, according to a new survey.
The survey was carried out by holiday website www.sunshine.co.uk as part of wider research into the holiday habits of Britons.
More than 3,000 people working full time in 30 different sectors with 28 days annual leave entitlement took part in the survey.
Managing Director of www.sunshine.co.uk, Chris Clarkson told Pure Beauty: "The retail sector is synonymous with unsociable hours, particularly with the growing trend of extended opening hours to meet consumers' needs for convenience, or around the time of big sale events.”
He added: “It's also not uncommon for retail workers to be told that they can't take time off during certain periods, which could easily scupper any holiday plans they were hoping to arrange.”
Clarkson also made the point that it’s easy to be so hard at work that taking time off can slip someone’s mind, especially in a working environment as busy as retail.
Construction workers came first in the list, taking only four days out of the 28 days owed and healthcare workers came second taking five days. Media and journalism take only eight days annual leave and marketing professionals take 10 days leave.
Just over a third (34%) of those surveyed finished their last working year without using all of their allocated holiday and more than four fifths (86%) said they felt ‘too busy’ to be able to take more holiday.
At the other end of the spectrum, the top five list for professions taking more than the 28 days they are entitled to include: hair and beauty, travel and tourism, recruitment, hospitality and sales.
