Christmas 2015: half of employees work on Christmas Eve to save cash

Some 63 per cent of British workers will be working on Christmas Eve

Some 63 per cent of British workers will be working on Christmas Eve

Although Christmas is traditionally a time to be enjoying a festive lunch, tearing the paper off presents and be merry with your family, today more than half of British workers are actually spending Christmas Eve at work to fund the festivities, according to a new survey.

Some 63 per cent of British workers will be working on Christmas Eve while over 30 per cent will be in the office on Christmas Day itself, according to a study of over a 1,000 UK employees by Cotton Traders.

While 40 per cent of those surveyed do not have a choice about working over the festive period, almost half of British employees said they will do so to earn extra income to fund the festive month.

More than 41 per cent said they expected to get double pay for working during a holiday.

Others work to help out colleagues. Nearly 30 per cent of those surveyed said they will check in at the office so that others can have time off.

Young employees and women are most likely to work a shift on Christmas Day, with almost 80 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds working over the festive period, more than any other age group.

Women are also more likely to spend Christmas Day office than men with as much as 20 per cent of female workers quitting their job in the past to avoid working on the holiday.

A breakdown of where people are most likely to be working shows important variation across the country with workers in the South West of England most likely to work, while people living in Northern England are more likely to stay at home. More than 70 per cent of Londoners are also likely to check in at work.

Even at home, 60 per cent of employees say they check their emails over Christmas with 20 per cent admitting that they will check every day.