Almost half of employees contacted for work purpose during leisure time — CSO

The Labour Force Survey also revealed just over one-in-three employed persons believe it would be “very easy” for them to take one or two hours off for personal or family reasons with one working day’s notice. Picture: EnergePic/Pexel

Almost half of all employed persons in Ireland (47.1%) were contacted for work purposes during their leisure time last year, and 13.4% were expected to act before the next working day, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Men were more likely than women to have reported being contacted several times during their leisure time and expected to act before the next working day in the previous two months at 16.7%, while just under a tenth of women reported the same expectation.

Those working in the professional, scientific and real estate activities sector were most likely to report having been contacted on several occasions for work purposes during their leisure time and expected to act before the next working day (18.2%) while those working in the human health and social work activities economic sector were the least likely (10.0%).

Time off

The Labour Force Survey also revealed just over one-in-three employed persons (36.0%) believe it would be “very easy” for them to take one or two hours off for personal or family reasons with one working day’s notice.

Taking one or two hours off at short notice was more likely to be “very easy” for males than females in Ireland (40.8% versus 30.5%), and increased with age. Just over a quarter of those aged 15-34 years said they could take one or two hours off at short notice compared to 37.2% of 35-49 year-olds and 44.8% for those in the 50-74 age category.

Similarly, taking leave for one or two days at short notice was more likely to be “very easy” for males than females, (21.0% versus 17.5%), and increased with age from 15.2% for those aged 15-34 years to 19.4% for those aged 35-49 years and 24.0% for those aged 50-74 years.

Working hours 

The research found Irish employers are slightly more likely to decide when employed persons in Ireland start and finish work (64.8%) when compared to other EU countries (60.8%).

In 2019, employers in Ireland were much more likely to decide when a woman started and finished work compared to setting a man’s work schedule (70.6% against 59.9% respectively) with less than one-in-five employed persons in Ireland stating they were able to decide the start and end of their working day.