Expats abroad fail to use their annual leave

According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, only two thirds of expatriates working abroad are likely to use all of the holidays provided to them by their employer.

The Ipsos/Reuters poll, which surveyed 12,500 people living in 24 different countries found that French employees are the most likely to take full leave entitlement with 89% of French employees using all their entitlement. On the other side of the scale, Japanese employees are the least likely to use up all their holidays, with just 33% using all the days owed to them.

Discussing the results, John Wright senior vice president at Ipsos commented: “There are lots of reasons why people don’t use up vacation days but most often it’s because they feel obligated to their work and put it over other more important things, including their own health and welfare.

“Workers should remember that there are graveyards full of indispensable people,” he added.

Expat survey findings

• Both high income and low income bracket employees are equally unlikely to use all their annual leave, with an average of two thirds of employees using their full entitlement.
• Younger people are more likely to take their annual leave than older people, with the poll revealing that expats over the age of 50 are the least likely to use their leave entitlement.
• Business owners and executives are the least likely to use their full annual leave entitlement.

Expats most likely to use their annual leave

Read the full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6753LI20100806