Aussies urged to take shorter, more frequent breaks

MORE than half of Australian workers failed to use up their annual leave in the past 12 months. Here’s why you need a break.

Adelaide small business owner Vanessa Bamford.

AUSTRALIAN workers have clocked up 111 million days of unused annual leave over the past 12 months, according to research from accounting software firm Xero.

More than half (52 per cent) failed to use all of their entitled annual leave, and 45 per cent admitted to not using any annual leave at all in 2017, according to the Travel Habits report, which analyses travel trends of small business owners and workers.

The report found that while small business owners had the highest percentage of unused leave, they were taking shorter, more frequent breaks, with 64 per cent having gone on a holiday in the past six months, and 37 per cent in the past three months.

“Some businesses frown upon taking annual leave,” said Vanessa Bamford, who runs Adelaide account firm Vision Beyond Business. “We put so much into our work, we can’t see the good that having that break will have on us.

“You might be scared to ask for time off because of what your employer is going to think, or the additional pressure that’s going to be put on you before you go on leave, or when you get back.”

According to the report, an overwhelming majority (93 per cent) of people said taking annual leave helped them avoid burnout, and 71 per cent said shorter, more frequent breaks reduced the impact of the “back to work” blues.

Two weeks is the typical amount of time most Australians take for holidays, but one in five small business owners prefer to take just four days off at a time, compared to just 9 per cent of workers who prefer short breaks.

While the summer months of December and January are the easiest time to take holidays, the research found small businesses cited the end-of-financial year months of July and August as the best times to take a holiday.

Ms Bamford says she tried to get away at least one weekend a month, and encourages her five staff to take frequent annual leave, provided they delegate tasks while they’re away and can manage their workload.

“With my staff, I always want my answer to be ‘yes’,” she said. “We work together, they know their own workload. We collaborate with each other and they are all dutiful to the team, so the majority of the time my answer is ‘yes’.”

Xero small business director Anneliese Urquhart said this emerging trend of “short yet meaningful” breaks should be adopted by more Australians.

“As Australians, a hardworking culture is ingrained in our DNA, however, this shouldn’t be getting in the way of our desire to travel and achieve optimum holiday balance,” she said.

“Though it comes at no surprise that small business owners are the least likely to use their annual leave, it’s encouraging to see they are in fact getting away from their desks more frequently — even if it is just a weekend break — to enjoy some much deserved time away.”

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Originally published as Aussies urged to take shorter, more frequent breaks