Working Hours | Over half of Brits plan to catch up on work over Christmas

Christmas is a time for catching up with friends, unwinding with a festive film and eating your own body weight in turkey; but for over half of Brits the Christmas period also means replying to emails and catching up on work. 

New research by human capital consultancy Lee Hecht Harrison Penna has found that 52% of workers expect to be checking their emails over Christmas. Just under a third (29%) say they will be checking emails on Christmas Day itself.

Most British workers cite negative reasons for why they clock in on over Christmas. Almost a quarter (23%) said they want to lessen their workload upon their return in January and almost the same percentage (22%) said they have work they need to finish. On a positive note, one in five (20%) said they love their job and enjoy staying in the loop.

Those checking their inbox will spend one hour and 14 minutes sending and replying to emails on average. When looking at regional differences, it appears Mancunians are most eager to keep on top of work, spending two hours and six minutes checking emails, almost an hour longer than the national average.