Office employees are using their work computers – and time they should be focused on other tasks – to book their holidays, a new study has found.
Research conducted by independent travel agency www.sunshine.co.uk found that a fifth of all overseas breaks are booked in the workplace on company time.
The firm carried out the study after noting an increase in holiday bookings between 09:00 and 17:00 on weekdays – the time when most people are typically at work.
Some 42 per cent of respondents said they had booked their most recent holiday at home, but half as many (21 per cent) did so in the workplace when they should have been doing other things.
This is something employers may need to be aware of as they look to boost productivity in the office, and optimise performance levels across their teams.
If employees are distracted by issues such as choosing and booking holidays – a process they are likely to spend a sizeable chunk of time on – they cannot be working to the best of their potential.
Just four per cent of those individuals who booked a holiday in the office said their employer was aware they had done so.
“We’ve always wondered if the bookings we receive in what would typically be working hours were made by people at home or those at work who were supposed to be doing what they were paid for,” said Chris Clarkson, co-founder of sunshine.co.uk.
He said that to see a fifth of holidays being booked in the workplace was “a big surprise”.
“Clearly, employees in the UK are taking liberties when it comes to their working hours and the access they have to the internet,” Mr Clarkson added.
“My advice is to always book holidays in your own time, or else your boss might not let you go!”
