Paid Annua Leave and Working Hours: Evidence from the HILDA Survey

Using data from wave 5 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, this study examines: (1) the extent to which Australian employees use their annual leave entitlements; and (2) the association between annual leave taking and weekly hours of work. After restricting attention to employees likely to have entitlement to at least 4 weeks of paid annual leave, it is found that the mean number of days of leave taken per year is around 16 and that the majority of employees (63%) take less than 20. The incidence of annual leave taking is found to vary positively with the number of usual weekly hours of work, but the size of this effect is small and weak.66