One in three employees will be winding down for Christmas from 5pm today, a survey by Teletext Holidays has found.

According to the research, Christmas will start early for some 9m staff who admitted they will do virtually no work next week and indulge in office gossip, internet browsing, long lunches and Christmas shopping. Half of the workers confessed to noticeably slow down in the build up to the festive break, with more than a third revealing 14 December when the holiday feeling really starts to kick in.

The survey of more than 2,500 people also found that nearly a half thought it was acceptable to come into work with a hangover during the pre-Christmas week. Almost a third will make up meetings so they can sneak out to do some Christmas shopping and a third will spend time contacting friends for gift ideas. Meanwhile, a fifth of those polled said they would spend up to five hours online at work looking for holidays for next year or buying gifts for friends and family.

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