The study of more than 1,000 UK senior managers found 31% would cancel an employees' holiday solely for a business reason.
Some 37% of employers also have a 'use it or lose it' approach to holiday leave, meaning employees can't roll holiday over.
The study showed while employers admit to struggling when employees are on holiday, 31% still do not have appropriate systems in place to find adequate cover.
Alex Fleming, managing director at Adecco Retail, said: "It is surprising that such a high number of employers regularly struggle with holiday leave without doing anything to combat the problem.
"Despite recognising the benefits that holidays bring to their workforce, a significant proportion are still willing to cancel this if need be.
"This unsurprisingly does not resonate well with employees who must not only pick up the additional workload when their colleagues are away, but also risk their own leave being cancelled and often not rolled over."
