RESEARCH: Aussies have 175 days of unused annual leave due

Out of office, a message written in the sand at the beach.

Working Aussies have an estimated 174.9 days of annual leave burning a hole in their pockets, according to new research from Roy Morgan.

So looks like it’s time to start tempting your clients with their dream domestic getaways.

The number is a record high total of accrued annual leave and represents an increase of 23.7 million (+15.7 per cent) on the 151.2 million days of accrued annual leave Australians had available prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Total annual leave accrued owed to Australia’s paid workers (2006-2021)

Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2005 – March 2021. Average annual interviews for each 12 months period, n=8,035. Base: Australians 14+ in paid employment who are entitled to annual leave.

Now over 6.69 million Australians (52.2 per cent of paid workers) have at least 2 weeks of annual leave due, up from 6.14 million prior to the pandemic, while fewer than 1.38 million (10.8 per cent) have less than 2 weeks due compared to over 1.54 million (12.6 per cent) pre-pandemic.

There have been slight increases in annual leave periods greater than 2 weeks compared to a year ago, with 1.63 million Australians (12.8 per cent of paid workers) having accumulated 2-3 weeks of annual leave – the most common time period of annual leave due, up from 1.45 million (11.9 per cent)

In addition, there are now 1.37 million Australians (10.7 per cent of paid workers) who have at least 7 weeks of annual leave due, up from 1.26 million a year ago (10.3 per cent).

A large cohort of 4.74 million Australians (37.0 per cent of paid workers) have no annual leave due, up slightly from the 4.60 million (37.4 per cent) without any annual leave due pre-pandemic.

The higher level of employment now compared to pre-pandemic means although there are now more paid workers with no annual leave entitlements this constitutes a smaller share of the overall number of employed Australians.

Annual leave owed to Australia’s paid workers by length of time (2021 vs. 2020)

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2019 – March 2021, average annual interviews n=16,053.
Base: Australians 14+ in paid employment. *Annual leave owed is calculated based on (working) days owed. Less than 2 weeks: 1-9 days; 2 weeks – under 3 weeks: 10-14 days; 3 weeks – under 4 weeks: 15-19 days; 4 weeks – under 5 weeks: 20-24 days; 5 weeks – under 7 weeks: 25-34 days; 7+ weeks: 35+ days.

Featured image source: iStock/PhotographyPerspectives

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annual leave out of office research roy morgan stats