Farmers and farmworkers taking less holiday, survey shows

People working in the agricultural sector are taking less time off as annual leave, according to a national survey of more than 122,000 workers across various sectors of the economy.

The survey found that the agricultural sector has seen an 8% reduction in the number of annual leave days being taken in the past two years – the third worst decline recorded among the 18 sectors considered.

This is despite the average allowance from employers increasing from 30.5 days to 34.4 days during the same period, when including bank holidays.

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Labour shortages, loss of income, and rising costs are some of the factors leading to farmers and agricultural workers taking less leave.

More than 3,000 companies were surveyed by HR specialist firm Access PeopleHR as part of its annual leave report.

Managing director Charles Butterworth said financial worries and busy work schedules were some of the complex reasons why some staff in the agriculture sector may not be utilising all of their annual leave.

“The fact that holiday entitlement has grown so much in recent years is promising, however it will become pointless if it’s seen as a job perk – and people are too busy to take it,” said Mr Butterworth.

“Companies need to take action to identify the reasons for the lack of holiday requests and ensure that they implement ways of working that rectify this.”

Farming industry views

Jude McCann, chief executive of The Farming Community Network, found the decline in the number of annual leave days being taken by farmers and farmworkers concerning.

Mr McCann said: “The reasons for this could be varied – including increasing demands on farmers’ time, needing to work more hours during this difficult economic climate, or less expendable income reducing opportunities to get off-farm and engage in other activities or to take a holiday.

“It’s important to remember that none of us can give 100% all of the time. All of us deserve and need a break.”

“We can find that taking time off, even just a day or two, can recharge us and result in us being more productive when we are at work.

“Presenteeism can be a major cause of burnout and it’s important we find guilt-free ways of taking a step back and recharging our batteries.”