Respondents to the survey were asked if there were any barriers to taking leave at their place of work. At an overall level, one in six (17.3%) said that there were barriers to taking paid leave at work. In large organisations of 100 people or more, nearly half (46.4%) of part-time staff cited barriers to taking paid leave, compared to just one in six (15.6%) of their full-time equivalents. In smaller organisations, this effect is not so great, especially in small firms with 10 to 19 people, where only 4.5% of part-time workers experienced such difficulties, compared with one in ten of full-time employees. Similarly, for barriers to taking unpaid leave, where only 6.7% of part-time staff said there were barriers to taking unpaid leave in their workplace, compared with one in eight (11.9%) full-time staff. See Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1.
| Nace Economic Sector | Paid leave | Unpaid leave | Flexible working arrangements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time (less than 10 people) | 11.2 | 10.3 | 18.1 |
| Part-time (less than 10 people) | 19.8 | 19.5 | 12 |
| Full-time (10 - 19 people) | 10 | 11.9 | 24.5 |
| Part-time (10 - 19 people) | 4.5 | 6.7 | 10.7 |
| Full-time (20 - 99 people) | 23.6 | 27.4 | 32.8 |
| Part-time (20 - 99 people) | 22.5 | 25.1 | 23.2 |
| Full-time (100 people or more) | 15.6 | 21.9 | 25.1 |
| Part-time (100 people or more) | 46.4 | 40.4 | 35.9 |
Nearly four in ten (37.7%) employees in the Education sector experienced barriers to availing of flexible working arrangements at work, compared with just one in seven (13.7%) workers in the Financial, insurance and real estate activities sector. Over three in ten (30.6%) employees in the Professionals occupational group said that such barriers also existed in their workplace, compared with less than one in seven (15.1%) Skilled trade workers. See Table 4.2.
Of workers who said that there were barriers to taking paid leave at work, by far the most prevalent reason was because they were short staffed, cited by nearly two thirds (63.8%) of such employees. This was particularly so in small firms (less than 20 people) where nearly seven in ten (68.8%) of those who experienced barriers to taking leave giving this as a reason. Over three quarters (76.9%) of part-time workers who said there were barriers to taking paid leave at work, cited this short staffing as a reason. See Table 4.3 and Figure 4.2.
| Lack of flexibility of taking leave | Not enough leave | Work builds up while on leave | Lack of staff to cover work | Need to keep leave for school holidays | Need to keep leave if children get sick | Not sure how many holidays entitled to | Too busy in work to take leave | Harmful for career | Other | |
| Employees who felt there were barriers | 35.5 | 9.5 | 21.2 | 63.8 | 8.1 | 3.9 | 3 | 29.1 | 8.4 | 10.9 |
Over one third (35.5%) of employees who experienced barriers to taking leave, say there is lack of flexibility in taking leave. This is particularly so in smaller firms (of less than 20 staff) – where nearly four in ten (39.0%) employees experiencing barriers to taking leave cited this as a reason. Workers with lesser service experience more barriers to taking leave in terms of lack of flexibility - four in ten of employees with less than 15 years’ service (who experienced barriers to taking paid leave) experienced lack of flexibility in taking leave compared with 22.9% of employees with long service (16 to 25 years). See Table 4.3.
Nearly one in eight (12.7%) workers with children, who said there were barriers to taking leave at work, cited that they needed to keep their leave for school holidays compared with 4.3% of workers with no children. Similarly, almost one in fourteen (7.3%) said that they needed to keep the leave for if the children get sick, compared with just 1.2% of workers with no children. See Table 4.3.
In large organisations of 100 plus staff, over four in ten (40.4%) part-time staff cited barriers to taking unpaid leave at work, compared to just over one in five (21.9%) of their full-time equivalents. See Table 4.1.
Of workers who experienced barriers to taking unpaid leave, over six in ten (61.1%) cited that there was not enough staff to cover the work. Analysis by size of firm shows that this was felt most in large firms of 100 plus people (66.6%) compared with 55.1% in small organisations of less than 20 people. Also, workers with long service with their current employer (16 to 25 years’ service) cited this as a reason (68.3%), compared with 53.9% for persons with lesser service (less than 5 years). See Table 4.4 and Figure 4.3.
| Not available in workplace | Lack of flexibility in workplace | Financial loss | Lack of staff to cover work | Unsure of leave available | Unsure of entitlements to unpaid schemes | Lack of job stability | Work is too busy to allow leave | Harmful for career | Other | |
| Employees who felt there were barriers | 15.1 | 25.5 | 21.8 | 61.1 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 33.2 | 13 | 10 |
Over one in four (25.5%) cited lack of flexibility in taking leave, followed by financial loss (21.8%). One in seven (15.1%) employees said that unpaid leave was not available in their workplace. This was especially the case in very small firms of less than 20 staff (17.8%) and large organisations of 100 or more people (18.7%). See Table 4.4.
More than one in eight (13.0%) said that taking unpaid leave was harmful to their career. This was especially so for workers with no children – 16.0% compared with 9.4% for workers with children. See Table 4.4.
Lack of availability of flexible working arrangements (FWA) was cited by 43.8% of workers experiencing barriers to availing of FWA at work. Analysis by size of firm shows that this was especially evident in smaller organisations – 48.2% in firms of less than 20 people, compared with 38.7% in large organisations of 100 people or more, and 43.1% in medium organisations (20 to 99 people). Over half (50.8%) of workers with children who cited barriers to availing of flexible working arrangements, said they were not available in their workplace, compared to 37.4% of workers with no children. See Table 4.5 and Figure 4.4.
| Not available | Financial loss | Lack of staff to cover work | Unsure if flexible arrangements available | Unsure of entitlement to flexible | Lack of job stability | Work is too busy | Harmful for career | Other | |
| Employees who felt there were barriers | 43.8 | 11 | 46.3 | 13.7 | 7.6 | 2.8 | 21.8 | 9.1 | 7.6 |
Go to next chapter: Awareness of Entitlements
