Category: <span>Christmas</span>

With Christmas Day falling next week, organisations may wonder how they should manage annual leave over the festive period. We explore this further below.

As the festive season approaches, workers will be looking forward to spending some quality time at home with their friends and family, provided they do so with coronavirus restrictions in mind. While most staff will be entitled to enjoy some time off over Christmas, this will differ depending on the organisation’s approach and their contractual terms.

Three bank holidays span the festive period; Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Although Boxing Day falls on a Saturday this year, the bank holiday for this particular day will actually fall on the following Monday 28 December. Workers often believe that they have the statutory right to paid time off work on these days. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. Instead, this will depend on their contract of employment and employees can be made to work bank holidays, providing they still receive a minimum of 28 days paid holiday within the leave year.

Workers that are originally scheduled to work over Christmas may request this time off as annual leave. Again, organisations are free to set their own rules on holidays over the festive period, and those who operate in industries such as retail and hospitality that are currently permitted to be open may implement a blanket ban, preventing staff from taking holidays during this time to cope with increased customer demand.

Alternatively, organisations can choose to let staff book time off over the festive season, and it would be reasonable to require individuals to follow the standard procedure for requesting annual leave. Although employers may be encouraged to favour requests from staff with young children, they should consider where this may lead to accusations of favouritism.

Some employers may opt to relax rules on how many staff can be off at the same time over Christmas, especially if the business is expected to be slow. Usually, organisations may want to give extra consideration to workers from further afield who plan to travel home over the Christmas period, however these workers should be reminded about current coronavirus travel restrictions, both overseas and to different areas in the UK.

Whilst organisations should avoid trying to dictate to staff what they can and cannot do in their spare time, they should be reminded of the rules surrounding the need to self-isolate. If employees are going to need to take unpaid leave, for example, it may deter them from taking potentially risky tips.

Companies that shut down temporarily in between Christmas and New Year can opt to enforce mandatory annual leave to cover this period. For this to work, organisations must provide staff with sufficient notice. Organisations can do this by distributing an email on this matter or including this information within contracts of employment.

Staff that are currently on furlough, and therefore receiving 80 per cent of their wages, can take the Christmas bank holidays as annual leave, however they need to be paid in full for this time. This means that the organisation will need to top up their holiday pay by the remaining 20 per cent.

Workers that are curious about their entitlement to leave during the Christmas period are encouraged to review their contracts and any relevant workplace policies. While organisations do have the flexibility to set their own rules on holidays during this time, they should think carefully about which approach would best support their specific business operations.

Leading psychologist suggests secret Santa spending limits could stop unnecessary anxiety. 

As Christmas approaches, many organisations are likely to be organising their own version of secret Santa, in which staff are encouraged to exchange presents anonymously between themselves. However, organisers have been encouraged to consider whether this practice is actually doing more harm than good.

Dr Ashley Weinberg, a psychology lecturer as the University of Salford, has explained that secret Santa has become an increasing source of anxiety for workers. She suggested that staff often fear that they will be judged negatively and considered ‘stingy’ by their colleagues for not spending an acceptable amount on these gifts.

These comments follow a recent survey from Jobsite, which found that 35 percent of employees would like to see secret Santa banned in their workplace. It was also revealed that 26 per cent typically give more than they can afford on presents for co-workers, whilst 17 per cent feel that they are judged based on how much they spend on gifts.

With this in mind, it may be wise for organisations to review their own approach to secret Santa and, as with any business practice, consider the impact this could have on staff.  Given the financial ramifications involved, participating in secret Santa could have a disproportionate impact on minimum wage employees, or those working in junior positions, who are typically paid less than their senior counterparts. To this end, it may also have a disproportionate impact on women given the well-documented gender pay gap.

Therefore, as suggested, it may be wise to set a clear monetary limit on gifts for secret Santa to ensure staff are not excluded from taking part. Many organisations typically agree to a limit of £5 or £10 in order to remove any excessive financial burden and make it more accessible for staff. This measure may also help to reduce any feelings of anxiety around the gift giving process.

Having said this, individuals should still not feel pressured into taking part; after all the idea behind secret Santa is to have fun and promote a festive spirit in the workplace. Also, given that Christmas is traditionally a Christian holiday, organisations should bear in mind that staff with certain religious beliefs may not feel comfortable taking part and it is vital to avoid creating an intimidating or hostile environment for them.

There is also always a danger with gift giving at work that certain individuals may use this as a vehicle to bully or harass colleagues. Therefore, it will be important to have rules in place that forbid any potentially offensive or discriminatory gifts and anyone found to have ignored these requirements should face relevant disciplinary action.