Too soon? Not if you’re trying to allocate leave fairly and ensure service levels remain sufficient. Hannah Dowd looks at what HR and managers need to consider when it comes to granting leave requests over the festive period.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, usually, except if you’re an employer dealing with a barrage of requests from staff who all want exactly the same time off over Christmas.
Unless you’re in an industry that historically shuts down over the festive period, the dilemma of deciding who gets what holiday can be a difficult one to navigate and particularly in sectors like retail and hospitality when it’s one of the busiest times of the year.
For smaller employers, with fewer bodies to share the load, the task can be even harder.
Most employees will have a certain amount of paid holiday that they must take over the course of the year or financial year, and their contracts will usually stipulate whether bank holidays – such as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day – are part of that holiday entitlement.
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As an employer, you are also legally entitled to limit the time taken off by employees during busy periods. However, if you want to maintain a harmonious workforce and avoid accusations of unfair treatment, it is advisable to find a system that is clear, consistent and above all fair to all.
It is also worth noting that family and religious beliefs – the primary reasons for taking time off over Christmas – are both classed as protected characteristics under the Equality Act, meaning failure to act fairly could lead someone to accuse you of discriminating against them on those grounds.
Employers are not legally obliged to grant staff time off for religious holidays or festivals, but refusing to do so without a good business reason could give rise to claims of discrimination.
Early warning
Don’t wait for staff to come to you, go to them and make sure that everyone understands what the system for allocating leave over the festive period will be.
There will always be one who tries to get their request in months in advance and ahead of their colleagues, so ensure you communicate that special rules will apply to granting leave over Christmas.
Ask that everyone gets their requests in by a certain date so you can consider them together. It’s a good idea to get this in the diary well in advance, not least so that you can ensure both parties are abiding by the legal notice periods.
For employees, holiday requests should be submitted in advance of at least twice as long as the leave they want to take plus one day (so three days’ notice for one day’s leave).
Employers refusing a request for leave must give as much notice as the amount of leave requested plus one day (so 11 days’ notice for 10 days’ leave). This is the statutory position but might be different depending on the contract of employment.
Employers are also legally entitled to tell their employees when they have to take leave, such as bank holidays and over Christmas. They can decide to do this even if their business was open for Christmas in previous years. This information is often included in contracts but must, at the very least, be communicated to staff with advance notice of at least twice as long as the period of leave they want them to take.
Be reasonable
Legal requirements aside, if you don’t want to be recruiting for new staff come the new year then the key priority for employers is to be fair and reasonable.
As a wise man once said, you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but a good employer will always try to be flexible and find the solution that works best for the majority.
Do you actually need everyone in work on the days in question? This is dependent on the industry you work in but, in an office environment for example, is there really going to be as much to do as normal?
In a post-pandemic world where flexible and hybrid working are now the accepted norm, do people really need to be in the workplace or could they work from home?
It is at this time of year that people may also request time off to go and see their child in the school nativity, for example. Could they take a half-day or, if their work is not time-sensitive, make up the hours at another time?
When inviting holiday requests, you could also consider offering everyone – if their holiday entitlement allows – exactly the same time off and asking for their preferred days.
As a wise man once said, you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but a good employer will always try to be flexible.
Christmas Eve is likely to be more coveted by those with young families, for example, while younger colleagues may prefer having the time off to celebrate over new year. Similarly, colleagues who observe religious holidays or festivals other than Christmas may prefer to work and take their leave at a different time.
Finally, lead by example. Employees are far less likely to feel resentful if they can see that everyone – right from the top down – is being treated the same.
Stand firm
No one wants to be the Grinch, but granting holiday requests without proper consideration could land you in hot water.
For example, if you leave your organisation without the legally required minimum number of staff it needs to operate, or open to allegations of discrimination if you’ve shown favouritism to certain colleagues.
As in most situations, keeping the lines of communication open between employer and employees is crucial and honesty is the best policy. Your employees are far more likely to understand and be receptive to working over Christmas if they know you have tried your best to be fair to them all.
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