In times when people wait for long weekends to make their travel plans and go on a jolly trip with their family and friends, here's someone who just took one single leave in a career of twenty-six years. Yes, you read that right. A clerk who worked with Dwarikesh Sugar Industries Ltd. in Uttar Pradesh reportedly worked on Sundays, and holidays such as Holi, Diwali, and others. He only asked for one leave in the last 26 years during his association from 1995 to 2021 with the company. He was identified as Tejpal Singh.
While that's probably whom you literally call a "workaholic," Singh has now coined his name in the India Book of Records for his sincere commitment and dedication to work.
It was learned that despite the company annually offering a leave of 45 days as per their policy, the UP man decided to not avail of them, apart from a leave he took to celebrate his brother's wedding festivities in 2003. He is a father of four children and an elder brother to two who resides with his extended family.
Is it fine to work extra, neglecting leaves?
The answer to this simple question is a big no.
Working extra is okay at times, but not a great decision when done regularly. Constantly skipping breaks, leaves, and personal time isn't good for both your personal and professional well-being. Working without taking the set of prescribed leaves or weekly offs is said to influence the performance and productivity of an individual on a negative scale. Also, it might mentally have adverse effects on the person making them doubt their abilities of work-life balance.
Taking breaks comes with benefits for both the employee and the organization, and not prioritising such a relaxing phase, either a long vacation or even a one-day leave, can lead to faster burnout and higher stress levels, states a study by Michigan State University.
