9 million ‘bogus’ holiday sick days taken every year

It is estimated that more than nine million sick days are being taken in the UK each year to accommodate inflexible package holiday deals – costing the economy nearly £1 billion.

A survey conducted by easyJet Holidays revealed that one in ten employees struggle to fit annual leave around set package holiday dates and flight times, and would rather take a bogus sick day than book an extra day of holiday or lose out on a deal.

Of the 1,000 people surveyed, Londoners were amongst the biggest culprits with nearly 20% admitting they have added a sick day onto their annual holiday entitlement.

In addition to those that have taken a sick day, one in five people would consider taking a bogus sick day which could result in up to 15 million bogus sick days being taken each year.

With easyJet Holidays, bogus sick days should no longer be an issue and this could reduce the associated cost to UK businesses. easyJet Holidays signals the end of traditional fixed holidays by offering consumers entirely flexible and competitively priced packages.

Paul Simmons, UK Director at easyJet said: “easyJet Holidays provides customers with the choice and flexibility to enable them to tailor their holidays to the dates and times they want to travel, at very competitive prices.”

The survey also revealed that over half (55 per cent) of respondents stated value for money as the most important factor when booking a holiday followed by transparent pricing (39 per cent) and airport choice (31 per cent).

easyJet Holidays has been established following a collaboration between easyJet and the Lowcosttravelgroup, one of the leading online travel companies in the UK.

easyJet flies from 18 UK airports to destinations across Europe, operating on over 540 routes with over 196 aircraft across 30 countries. It operates more flights than any other British airline. Lowcosttravelgroup provides over 10,000 hotels ranging from luxury 5 star to great value 3 star options with private and shuttle transfer options across all of easyJet’s European, North African and Middle Eastern destinations.

For more information, visit holidays.easyjet.com.