Your Boss Is Ruining Your Time Off — And Most Of Us Let Them
Nearly three quarters of UK workers say their boss has contacted them during time off. More than 8 in 10 say it spoils their break. So why are we still picking up the phone?
Key Results
- 71% of workers say their boss has contacted them during annual leave or a public holiday
- 83% say boss contact affects how much they enjoy their time off
- 28% say it makes them genuinely hate their boss
- Only 36% always respond to their boss during time off — but 61% feel obligated to, even when they don`t want to
- 73% of workers check their work emails during time off — even when nobody has asked them to
The bank holiday is supposed to mean something. A rare, collective permission to step away from the inbox, the Slack pings, the endless chain of "quick questions." And yet, for the majority of British workers, the clean break remains a fantasy.
New research by Casinos Analyzer, surveying 2,000 employed UK adults, finds that nearly three quarters of workers (71%) have been contacted by their manager during annual leave or a public holiday. It is a number that should surprise no one — and yet, laid out plainly, it still stings.
They`re Not Emailing. They`re Texting.
It is not just an email buried in an inbox. Nearly two-thirds of UK workers (64%) report being reached via WhatsApp or personal text — personal channels that carry an implicit pressure to respond precisely because they feel informal. Work email (51%) and Slack or Teams (43%) follow, with 1 in 4 receiving a direct phone call.
The result is a form of contact that is harder to ignore and harder to justify ignoring. When a message arrives on the same app you use to text your family, the boundary between work and personal life does not just blur — it disappears.
The Emotional Fallout
The personal cost is substantial. More than 8 in 10 UK workers say boss contact affects how much they enjoy their time off — with only 1 in 6 saying it makes no difference at all.
The emotional response runs deeper than inconvenience. Over half of Brits (52%) say work contact during time off makes them resent their manager. More than 1 in 4 (28%) go further — saying it makes them genuinely hate their boss. And it is not just moods being ruined. A third of UK workers say their manager`s messages have caused an argument or tension with a partner, family member, or friend on holiday.
The Habit Nobody Admits To
There is a second story buried in this data, and it implicates workers as much as managers.
Even when no manager is calling, Brits are not switching off. Nearly three quarters of UK workers (73%) admit to checking work emails during time off without being asked — and most don`t realise they`re putting company data at risk in the process. Only 1 in 4 manages to disconnect completely.
This is not simply a story of bad bosses. The boundary between on and off has not just been crossed — it has been quietly dissolved, from both sides. Workers have become active participants in their own unavailability.
A Policy Gap Nobody Is Closing
Nearly 1 in 3 Brits (31%) say it is never acceptable for a manager to contact an employee during time off — no exceptions, no emergencies. The majority would permit contact only in a genuine crisis. Very few think the current status quo is working.
And yet the UK still has no statutory right to disconnect. France introduced one in 2017. Ireland, Belgium, and Portugal have all followed. The data suggests British workers are ready for the same protection — but the political will has yet to materialise.
Until it does, the out-of-office will remain exactly what it has always been: a polite fiction.
Research conducted by Casinos Analyzer. Survey of 1,000 employed UK adults, May 2025.
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