Introduction
Reward Gateway's Holiday Trading offering allows employees to purchase extra days of annual leave in exchange for payments from their salary, or sell their days of annual leave in exchange for an increase in their salary. Clients can choose whether to offer the ability to buy or sell or have both options available.
As well as the tax savings which clients can make when an employee chooses to buy extra days of leave, Holiday Trading has wider benefits to both employees and the business.
Work-life balance
Employees able to buy extra days of annual leave have greater freedom to spend time doing what they love. Whether that's more time on vacation, with the family or on personal projects outside of work, employees can balance work and life when they have more time off – with the obvious happiness increase which they will internalise towards their employer.
Save employees from burnout
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 526,000 workers in the UK suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2016/17 – with 12.5m working days lost as a result. Clients who give employees the opportunity to buy extra days of annual leave can help them to take more time to recharge after a particularly busy or stressful period in their work.
Increased productivity
And when employees do feel the stress or tiredness of work, it can have negative impacts on their productivity. Being able to buy extra days of annual leave helps to improve their mental wellbeing and avoid potential burnout, which is an obvious benefit in itself.
Helping with finances
On the other side, employees who are able to sell their annual leave will be able to increase their salary. Being able to do this at the beginning of a year which employees' knows they will need to spend more than usual, will give them a lot more financial freedom and help with their mental health in the process.