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More than a quarter of employees expect they will be responding to work emails over Christmas, according to a new survey.

The Human Workplace Index from Workhuman found that 22% of employees say they will not be able to fully switch off from work over their Christmas holidays, while 28% admitted that their large workload would prevent them from taking as much time off as they would like over the festive period.

The study also found that the majority of employees who receive end-of-year bonuses are using them to pay for Christmas presents.

More than a quarter of respondents who receive end-of-year bonuses say they are essential for affording Christmas presents, while a further 53% said they alleviate some of the financial burden.

When it comes to gifting trends in the workplace, 44% of employees receive Christmas gifts from their colleagues and 27% do a ‘Secret Santa’ at work.

Some 32% get presents from their employer or manager and, of these, 95% say they usually, or always, like them.

However, 12% admitted they usually re-gift them to someone else.

Niamh Graham, Senior Vice President of Global Human Experience at Workhuman, said the research shows that while Christmas is an exciting time of year, it can also be a stressful one.

“When done right, company culture can help to alleviate some of this stress, rather than being a cause of it,” Ms Graham said.

“Ensuring employees are using their paid time off and have a solid coverage plan so they can truly unplug over the holidays is a practice leadership should demonstrate and encourage,” she added.

The survey of 1,000 full-time employees in Ireland was commissioned by Workhuman and conducted by Pollfish to gain insights into attitudes and expectations around the holidays, including how work cultures support employees during the season, as well as gifting and giving habits.

Article Source – Quarter of employees expect to deal with work emails over Christmas – survey – RTE

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