Employees sacrifice holiday entitlement

British workers will forfeit at least 192 million worth of their hard earned holidays this year by failing to take advantage of their holiday allocation.

According to research by Teletext Holidays, over three quarters (82 per cent) of workers still have leave to take this calendar year and of those, 37 per cent wonít have used up their entitlement by the time it expires on December 31. In fact over a quarter (24 per cent) estimate that they will have at least five days of holiday time left at the end of the year.

Dedicated to the job, a third (31 per cent) of those questioned would prefer to lose a dayís holiday than leave their boss in the lurch and a further 30 per cent love their work so much that they donít mind sacrificing holiday. But, itís not all down to martyrdom: 7per cent) of those who missed out on a well-earned break did so because they simply didnít book it in time and almost one in ten (9 per cent) because their vacation plans fell through.

The workaholics sacrificing their own holiday may find themselves feeling less than festive when they witness their colleagues clambering to cram in their remaining days off - many jetting away for some pre-Christmas sun. Almost a fifth (18 per cent) of their fellow workers plan to go on holiday, 10 per cent plan to snap up some Christmas goodies abroad and a quarter (25 per cent) aim on making the most of some long weekends

Marc Bell, marketing director at Teletext Holidays, comments: It looks like too many Brits arenít making the most of their holiday time. Why be the one left in the office wearing the paper hat when you could be doing your Christmas shopping abroad?

Despite losing out to holidaying colleagues, the research shows that some workers are serial leave losers. A quarter (26 per cent) of those who look like losing annual leave this year failed to use all of their allocated holiday last year too.

Bell added: There is still time for people to book themselves a quick escape if they have a change of heart. In fact December is likely to see a surge in great value last minute holiday bookings as people realise they have days left to take - and donít want to see them wasted. Thirteen per cent of the people we questioned have decided to unchain themselves from their desks to spend Christmas abroad this year.