Christmas week time off

projectmayhem

I can't seem to find any information on this so maybe someone here can help. Basically where I work the roster shows every single person getting 2 days off next week. This is one day off, and Christmas day.

On Stephen's day everyone is rostered in far earlier then they would otherwise be. Obviously it's a double-pay day, but the times we're in means everyone will be working more then their contracted hours.

So, is it actually our legal entitlement to our standard 2 days off, plus Christmas? Can we demand it next week?

Also, while I'm here, what is the legal time at which a roster can be posted? 2 weeks before the week itself, etc.? I say this because I put my roster into iCal last Thursday, was off during the weekend, and now, suddenly, the entire roster is different (changing my days off, late shifts et al)...

gerrycollins

the 25th and 26th are both public holidays which means as an employee you are entitled to bank holiday entitlement for both these days assuming you quailify. if you were to work one of these days ie the 26th you would be still entitled to the extra pay entitlement and the days wage however the wage would be at flat rate. ie combined its double pay for the day. most employers go for the extra pay as its easier than arranging a day off during the month etc.

as for your days off, you should actually have 2 days off plus the 25th but your contract may have something in it about working the 26th, which may take away the extra day off. there are some conditions where the shop is closed ie the 25th where it cannot be classified as a day off because there is no work to be off from.is your place of work closed on 25th?

check your contract because there might be some local arrangement with management considering the week it is. what happened last year?

there is no legal time for your rota to be displayed(open to correction) but there might be a local arrangement for it to be posted at a certain time frame, however 2 weeks is average. it was a bit pissy of them to chage yours without maybe talking to you first, you might have made plans hence the 2 weeks advance notice of your rota in fair play

projectmayhem

gerrycollins wrote: »

the 25th and 26th are both public holidays which means as an employee you are entitled to bank holiday entitlement for both these days assuming you quailify. if you were to work one of these days ie the 26th you would be still entitled to the extra pay entitlement and the days wage however the wage would be at flat rate. ie combined its double pay for the day. most employers go for the extra pay as its easier than arranging a day off during the month etc.

as for your days off, you should actually have 2 days off plus the 25th but your contract may have something in it about working the 26th, which may take away the extra day off. there are some conditions where the shop is closed ie the 25th where it cannot be classified as a day off because there is no work to be off from.is your place of work closed on 25th?

check your contract because there might be some local arrangement with management considering the week it is. what happened last year?

No I've nothing in my contract with regard to Christmas. My place is closed on the 25th, and open on the 26th. My gripe isn't with working the 26th per se, it's more that I would have assumed I get 2 days off, plus Christmas (so 3 days total) next week, as this is how it has been done in other companies in the past that I've worked in.

AARRRGH

Do you work in a call centre which would expect a lot of tech support calls the day after Christmas? Or something like that?

ALFIET

projectmayhem wrote: »

No I've nothing in my contract with regard to Christmas. My place is closed on the 25th, and open on the 26th. My gripe isn't with working the 26th per se, it's more that I would have assumed I get 2 days off, plus Christmas (so 3 days total) next week, as this is how it has been done in other companies in the past that I've worked in.

Three statutory public holidays fall during the Christmas period: Christmas Day - 25 December, St. Stephen’s Day - 26 December and New Year's Day - 1 January. Entitlement to benefit from these holidays is governed by the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997. All full time employees are entitled to public holiday benefits and all part time employees who have work at least 40 hours in the five weeks ending on the day before the public holiday are also entitled to a public holiday benefit.
In respect of each public holiday, an employee's entitlement is as follows:


a paid day off on the day of the public holiday, or
an additional day’s pay, or
a paid day off within a month of the public holiday, or
an additional day’s annual leave.


Employees who are normally required to work on a day in which the public holiday falls (Thursday 25th, Friday 26th and Thursday 1st) are entitled to receive one of the four benefits mentioned above.

Employees who are not normally required to work on the day in which a public holiday falls are entitled to receive one fifth of their normal weekly rate in respect of that public holiday given in the form of payment or paid time off in lieu

seamus

projectmayhem wrote: »

My gripe isn't with working the 26th per se, it's more that I would have assumed I get 2 days off, plus Christmas (so 3 days total) next week, as this is how it has been done in other companies in the past that I've worked in.

No, I'm afraid this isn't how it works. You're entitled to the public holidays of 25th and 26th December and that's it. It's two days off, not 2 days + Christmas day. Many employers who would otherwise be doing nothing on those days anyway, may give extra days off either side of Christmas, but these are usually taken out of your holiday entitlements.

If you're working the 26th, you're entitled to be paid for that day, plus you're entitled to be paid for the bank holiday, or be given another day's holiday in lieu.

gerrycollins

seamus wrote: »

No, I'm afraid this isn't how it works. You're entitled to the public holidays of 25th and 26th December and that's it. It's two days off, not 2 days + Christmas day. Many employers who would otherwise be doing nothing on those days anyway, may give extra days off either side of Christmas, but these are usually taken out of your holiday entitlements.

If you're working the 26th, you're entitled to be paid for that day, plus you're entitled to be paid for the bank holiday, or be given another day's holiday in lieu.

out of courisity with a regular Monday bank holiday most people still get their two days off in the week, obviously for most its Sat and Sun.

However if your place of work is open 7 days such as retail/call center there is nothing against you still working your usual 5 days so long as you dont exceed 40 hours. The 26th just so happens to be another bank holiday so long as you recieve your entitlements your covered.