More than a quarter of U.S. workers say their workplaces will close down during the holidays and even if they don't employees are likely to take time off, according to a nationwide survey released on Monday.

The Working the Holiday poll commissioned by the Workforce Institute, a think tank established by the management solution company Kronos Inc, found more employees planning to take Christmas Eve and/or New Year's Eve off -- 26 percent, compared with 18 percent in a similar study conducted in 2007.
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Joyce Maroney, director of The Workforce Institute, said that as many employers cut staff and merit increases, employees may be feeling more encouraged to use their paid time off.

Organizations may also be looking to reward their staff for weathering the storms of the past few years with an extended vacation.

Nearly 40 percent of workers plan to take Christmas Eve off, while 28 percent will take off the following Monday, which is New Year's Eve, according to the survey of 2,691 adults.

About 15 percent took those days off in 2007, the last time those dates fell on a Monday, when the previous survey was conducted.

[Source: Reuters]