Fewer than two-fifths (39 per cent) of U.S. employees said they can fully unplug from work during the holiday season, according to a new survey by FinanceBuzz.
The survey, which polled roughly 900 workers, found 61 per cent of employees said they’d rather get paid extra and work during the holidays than have uninterrupted time off. Nearly half (47 per cent) of workers said their employer encourages them to take time off during the holidays and only a third said their employer respects their time off.
Read: 42% of U.S. workers aren’t taking vacation: survey
A third (33 per cent) of workers also said they plan to check emails and messages while taking time off during the holidays and roughly a quarter said they’ll have trouble enjoying time with friends or family because of work stress. Fewer than a third (30 per cent) of respondents said they’re able to set boundaries between work and their personal lives during the holidays.
A quarter (26 per cent) said they feel pressure from their employer to work more than they want to during the holidays and 16 per cent said their employer expects them to check email and internal messages during time off.
On average, employees are taking six days off of work this holiday season. Just 13 per cent said they plan to take two weeks or more and 10 per cent said they aren’t taking any time off.
Read: 87% of employees have experienced burnout over the last year: survey