EasyJet Holidays, which is plugging the flexibility of its offering after tying the budget carrier’s flights with Lowcost Travel Group beds, has helpfully found more than nine million ‘bogus’ holiday sick days are taken in the UK each year.
The new joint venture, which had its official consumer press and affiliate partner launch in London last week but has been on sale for over a month, made the claim having polled 1,000 people.
It has used the findings to claim people are struggling to fit their holidays into their annual leave entitlement, blaming inflexible holiday packages operated by rivals. EasyJet Holidays said the poll found that Londoners were among the biggest culprits with nearly 20% admitting they have added a sick day onto their annual holiday entitlement.
The survey 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.
In addition to those that have taken a sick day, one in five people would consider taking an extra day off which could result in up to 15 million bogus sick days being taken each year, according to the study.
The survey revealed that more than half (55%) of respondents stated value for money as the most important factor when booking a holiday followed by transparent pricing (39%) and airport choice (31%).