Bosses taking holiday liberties

A quarter of bosses think it is acceptable to ring employees while they are on holiday, according to new research.

A study of 2,000 employers shows that unless staff are willing to travel to far-reaching destinations such as the Maldives or the Caribbean, they are considered fair game for texts, phone calls and emails.

In fact, one in three bosses reckon that staff should expect to be called whilst on holiday if they have failed to tie things up properly before jetting off according to the study by Virgin Atlantic.

It also emerged that more than one in ten managers think that if employees are provided with a company mobile phone they should be open to receiving calls when on annual leave.

Greg Dawson, Director of Corporate Communications for Virgin Atlantic said: "Most people hate being disturbed whilst on holiday.

''If you are on the beach or by the pool relaxing with your friends and family and your boss rings it can fill you with dread.

''Whether you are contactable on holiday depends hugely on your job and your role within the company. This poll has revealed that the further away you tend to travel the least likely you are to get harassed by irate managers, so it pays to venture far afield."

Four in ten managers say they are much more likely to ring an employee if they have not travelled too far away and according to the survey workers are most likely to get bothered if they visit Devon, The Lake District and Cornwall, whereas, very few bosses would disturb a holiday in New Zealand, The Caribbean or Thailand.

A brutal 14 per cent of no-nonsense employers have even telephoned a worker to reprimand them whilst they are away on annual leave.

Nearly a quarter of adults (23 per cent) said they simply don't get paid enough to have their holiday disturbed by their employer and over a quarter refuse to let work take over their holiday.

But it seems Brits don't help themselves with the typical holidaymaker checking their phone up to 12 times a day, although 80 per cent said they do this more out of habit than necessity.

The poll found that 20 per cent of workers actually expect to get calls when whilst on holiday but find it extremely annoying.

It also emerged that in a typical two week holiday the average adult sends nine work related texts or emails.
A more relaxed one in five workers said it didn't bother them that much when they get calls from the office whilst in sunny climes, although nearly half of us have ignored calls whilst holidaying.

Greg Dawson added: ''Using mobile phones is such a huge part of everyday life and many of us conduct the majority of work via our phones, so it is hard to break that cycle when we are on holiday.

''If you continually check-in with the office, you will never fully relax and make the most of your holiday.''

Destinations where you will be disturbed by work calls

Devon
The Lake District
Cornwall
Bournemouth
Norfolk
Weymouth
Scotland
Pembrokeshire
Ireland
France

Destinations where you will be left alone

New Zealand
The Maldives
United Arab Emirates
Africa
Caribbean
Thailand
Bulgaria
Portugal
USA
Cyprus