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Is there a standard in the public sector for holidays over Christmas

  • 03-12-2013 07:07AM
    #1
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,286 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Just wondering- how are holidays organised in the public sector at Christmas?
    Its an office based job- so the office is actually closed on Christmas Day, Stephen's Day and New Years Day. Outside of that- its open as usual- full day on Christmas eve, the 27th, 30th and 31st.

    I have two young children- and have to pay creche fees for them for the period, despite the creche being closed, and can't afford to pay for childcare on the double. The creche is a former public sector creche- aka, its on site, but run on a commercial basis, and is a little more expensive than other creches (Giraffe etc) locally- but its convenient location wise. They have advised they are closing from Friday the 20th to Thursday the 2nd of January.

    The other staff have children too- so its not the case that we can say those without kids have a lower priority than do those with kids. Its also not fair to say- the people working in a particular longest, should have preference over others. A suggestion that we split it- someone covers Christmas week, and someone covers the two days the following week- has come to nought.

    There have been a number of bereavements, seriously ill children, illhealth among staff and spouses etc recently- so there is no obvious manner of deciding who should get precedence.

    Is there any fair way of deciding who is allowed to have holidays at Christmas- and when?


Comments

  • #2
    boobar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,226 ✭✭✭boobar


    This is always going to be a difficult one to get agreement on.

    My wife works as a nurse, she's only sure of getting 25 and 26th off, so I save my holidays for the two weeks our kid is off for Xmas.

    Can your manager come up with a proposal that's fair, ultimately it's the manager that's responsible for ensuring the office is staffed appropriately.


  • #3
    miezekatze
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭miezekatze


    I think the best solution would be to discuss this as a team and maybe you can come to a solution that would suit everyone. I am part of a team that works 7 days a week including all bank holidays (private sector) so we also have to cover Christmas Day, Stephens Day etc. We usually discuss the christmas schedule well in advance and everyone states their preference and it usually works out quite well. I don't think it's a good idea for the manager to just schedule people in without talking to them first.


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