Are enforced holidays for millions of Australians each year a good way of preventing burnout, or just a cynical ploy by the bosses?
As the year draws to a close, many workplaces will be preparing to shut down over Christmas, and many businesses will force their employees to take personal annual leave.
Finder.com.au research showed 5.3 million Australians (more than a third of all workers) were forced to use their annual leave over Christmas in 2017 — an average of 8.3 days. Of these workers, 21% had to take more than two weeks off. This represents a large chunk of non-casuals’ four-week allotment.
More recent figures are hard to come by, but given many employees accrued higher leave balances during 2020-21 thanks to COVID, and reducing said balances during quieter periods is why many businesses close, one can assume the practice has only increased.
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