If you’re overwhelmed at work, you might think logging in every weekend or checking your emails as soon as you wake would be a simple way to keep on top of your workload. But for overstretched and anxious staff, it’s a small step from putting in those extra hours to falling into a new, dangerous trap just to get ahead of the game: booking annual leave, then using it to catch up on your office to-do list.
Known as “leavism”, this troubling habit – which can lead to burnout, depression and physical illness – is on a sharp rise since the pandemic. The Chartered Institute for Professional Development’s (CIPD) 2022 report, “Health and Wellbeing at Work”, revealed that 67 per cent of organisations had observed some form of “leavism” taking place in their business. More than three quarters (76 per cent) also reported stress-related absences, a figure that increases to a stunning 90 per cent for larger companies.
