How much time off over Christmas?

ShaneC93

Hey,

I own a small business based in Ireland with ~20 staff working both here and on contracts abroad.

Just speaking about actually employees here, what amount of time would be normal to give off over Christmas? Not talking about annual leave, They can take that as long as they have it.

But I have been informed that other companies in the tech/ internet sector work give off like the whole of the next 1-2 weeks on normal pay/ not counting as annual leave?..

I was wondering if this is true what would be the normal amount for smaller companies?

Shane.

modmuffin

My team have to keep 3 days annual leave to cover the Christmas period. Office closes on Christmas Eve until the 2nd Jan

We just hit our annual target today so everyone is getting a "free" half day tomorrow and a "free" day off on Christmas Eve.

Most of the gang are taking Mon & Tue off (annual leave) and also Fri 2nd so it's a nice break for them

jimmii

I would say getting 2 weeks paid is definitely pushing it! A friend of mine works for a small IT company and they were all back on the 28th I think they ran with a skeleton staff so everyone only did 3 days or and the agreement was that everyone would be available in case of emergency. How can they expect you to run a company with no staff? Do they think the money just keeps rolling on in when there are no staff working!

GarIT

Depends on the company. Some software devs I know are off from 24th to the 1st (As in the 23rd is the last day of work and they return on the 2nd). Unpaid, Christmas bonus covers it and then some.

Kristopherus

You are only obliged to give 25th, 26th Dec off and 1st January. Anything else is annual leave or the goodness of your back pocket.

GarIT

Kristopherus wrote: »

You are only obliged to give 25th, 26th Dec off and 1st January. Anything else is annual leave or the goodness of your back pocket.

How do so many places stay open? Do they have to get staff that choose to work?

seamus

It very much depends on the company and the kind of work they do. Companies whose work is very much dependent on making contact with customers and 3rd parties tend to shut down completely or operate a skeleton crew (e.g. urgent customer care only) for the two weeks because otherwise people are sitting around doing nothing because they can't get a hold of anyone they need to.

I work in a tech company who operate an online business, so there's no shutdown at all. It naturally gets quieter over the period and people take their public holidays off, but you can get the same amount of work done on December 28th as you can on January 28th, so there's no reason to send everyone home for two weeks.

In my experience, shutting down for two weeks tends to be the norm in smaller companies, whereas larger companies and corporates tend to maybe give one or two days off, but otherwise operate as normal.

seamus

GarIT wrote: »

How do so many places stay open? Do they have to get staff that choose to work?

Well no, they can tell staff to work, provided that they give them a day in lieu. But typically they do offer incentives like triple time or a straight cash bonus. I once worked in a 24x7x365 call centre and a couple of people loved doing the Xmas days every year because they'd pocket the guts of £1,000 (punts) for 3 days' work.
There's actually no shortage of people who will happily work these days, you'd be surprised.

ThisRegard

Almost 20 or so years in the industry and I've never heard of additional leave as outlined in the op.

Companies may designate days on which they shut down over the period and that can come from the annual leave designation.

But apart from the public holidays, any time off over Christmas comes out of annual leave.

GarIT

seamus wrote: »

Well no, they can tell staff to work, provided that they give them a day in lieu. But typically they do offer incentives like triple time or a straight cash bonus. I once worked in a 24x7x365 call centre and a couple of people loved doing the Xmas days every year because they'd pocket the guts of £1,000 (punts) for 3 days' work.
There's actually no shortage of people who will happily work these days, you'd be surprised.

I know there's plenty of people that would work. I'd do it for triple time no problem. I just didn't think there was an obligation to give any days off.

ShaneC93

Alright so looks like it would be down to giving maybe the 24th off and then they have to use annual leave for the rest.
The whole company is on 24 days annual leave which I think it meant to be around average anyway?

We are an internet based business but with 5,000+ clients and others facts coming into play there is no slow down nor stop over christmas.
In fact with people off of work/ school/ college I'd say it will be busier.

Mr Clonfadda

I Operate a small IT company. We are only closed for the three bank Holidays.

We tend to shut early on Christmas eve as phone lines usually go quiet at lunch time. The rest of the day is given at my cost.

We operate at reduced staffing levels over Christmas due to the fact that the majority of our customers do shut. Anyone who takes the time off, is deducted from their annual entitlements but are advised that they may be requested to work if there is a demand.

most will work one of the days over the Christmas to New Year period

Bigcheeze

ShaneC93 wrote: »

Alright so looks like it would be down to giving maybe the 24th off and then they have to use annual leave for the rest.
The whole company is on 24 days annual leave which I think it meant to be around average anyway?

We are an internet based business but with 5,000+ clients and others facts coming into play there is no slow down nor stop over christmas.
In fact with people off of work/ school/ college I'd say it will be busier.

24 annual leave days is quite generous for the private sector.

It has become very common for companies not dealing with consumers to close between 24th and 2nd with either shared annual leave days and company days or all company days.

As you already give 4 more days annual leave than legally required I wouldn't feel the need to effectively bump annual leave to 27/28 days.

thecommander

We're closing today, and coming back on the 5th.

It'll be dead next week anyway, so not missing out on any revenue. Prefer for people to have a rest and enjoy Christmas, and not bring them in for the sake of it. I don't take it out of annual leave.

Celly Smunt

When I was Running my Show i used to give The staff The choice between a small bonus on top of The regulär bonus and normal hours (apart from The obligatory obviously) or two-three days paid on top of their holidays they would Take Over The period. I would prefer to give a bonus and they used to prefer to Take it as it was a Little cash injection for them prior to The Big day and it benefitted me as it meant The Place stayed open Over The period.

jimmii

thecommander wrote: »

We're closing today, and coming back on the 5th.

It'll be dead next week anyway, so not missing out on any revenue. Prefer for people to have a rest and enjoy Christmas, and not bring them in for the sake of it. I don't take it out of annual leave.

Thats really generous of you fair play!

JDxtra

I work in tech sector and company is closed from Christmas Day until January 5th - staff have to take 3 days from 2014 annual leave and 1 day from 2015 annual leave to allow for it. Not optional. Christmas Eve is a working day, but most people finish after lunch.

BostonB

ShaneC93 wrote: »

...But I have been informed that other companies in the tech/ internet sector work give off like the whole of the next 1-2 weeks on normal pay/ not counting as annual leave?.....

I've never heard of that in IT anyway.

thecommander

jimmii wrote: »

Thats really generous of you fair play!

We're in graphic design/printing so we start working on Christmas stuff in June/July and it's gets manic in the last few weeks running up to it. Then it just dies, if you don't have you posters up and flyers out and menus on the table by the 10th or so then you're doing it wrong. Some last minute tickets and wristbands today, but no new design work. Might have to drop in on the 29th to do a run or two of flyers, but no point dragging everyone in for that.

delahuntv

ShaneC93 wrote: »

Hey,

I own a small business based in Ireland with ~20 staff working both here and on contracts abroad.

Just speaking about actually employees here, what amount of time would be normal to give off over Christmas? Not talking about annual leave, They can take that as long as they have it.

But I have been informed that other companies in the tech/ internet sector work give off like the whole of the next 1-2 weeks on normal pay/ not counting as annual leave?..

I was wondering if this is true what would be the normal amount for smaller companies?

Shane.

My guess the staff have informed you!! - tell them April 1st if over 3 months away.

Most companies will insist on annual leave being used over a Christmas closure - it certainly is not in addition to annual leave.


Put it another way - 20 staff, lets say and average of €26,000 per year salary (for ease of calculation) - That's €10k a week + employee prsi.

If you close tomorrow and don't return until 5th January, that will be 4 days free leave in addition to the 3 bank holidays.

Cost to the company = €8,000 + prsi.



Very simply, yes, other companies will close until Jan 5th, BUT, the 4 days will be taken from annual leave.

GerardKeating

GarIT wrote: »

How do so many places stay open? Do they have to get staff that choose to work?

No, if they cannot get enough"volunteers" they just do not approve leave for everyone.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Christmas day, St Stephen's day and the next day is quite normal. Anything else is extremely generous.

Edit: And New Year's Day of course.

Outkast_IRE

Most companies i work with would have around 3 designated days off over christmas and the remainder must be kept as annual leave days by staff. That would be 25th, 26th and 1st off and the rest must be taken as annual leave as the company shuts down on the 24th and reopens on the 5th