Three in 10 SME employers work during their summer holiday

More than four in 10 SME workers say their boss expects them to work during summer holidays.

The latest Process Bliss research revealed that many SME employees will be working every day during their 2019 summer holidays, with 30.5% working either every day (22.8%) or multiple times each day (7.7%).

Overall, more than two-thirds (67%) will spend some time working during their summer holidays.

Alister Esam, CEO, Process Bliss, commented, “While working during the summer holidays might sound horrific to some people, working patterns and habits have changed and in 2019 people don’t all feel the need for a complete break.

“That said, many people still want and deserve a complete break from work and if they are working because they don’t trust others to get work done or that they believe things will be missed without them, then that is unacceptable and needs to be addressed.”

The main reasons given for SME employees working during their summer holidays were:

• They can’t relax properly on holiday without knowing things are being done (36%)
• They feel they are being conscientious (28%)
• Worrying that something important will be missed (24%)
• Not trusting colleagues to keep everything in order (16%)
• Feeling they are the only ones who can do their job (13%).

Of those that will be working over the summer holidays, 67.5% will check their emails and 34% will call the office for updates; 28% will have direct contact with customers/suppliers and 17% will settle down to do report writing or other written work.

Alister Esam added, “No-one should ever be expected to work during holidays, or feel that the SME they work for cannot manage for a few weeks without them.

“There’s also a clear difference between a few quicks checks on email and spending every day of a holiday working. SMEs need to put in place better training programmes to ensure people can take a full break, or establish proper processes for tasks and roles so others in the organisation can follow those and ensure everything gets done as it should do.”

To find out more about contracting please contact Jaime on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.