Now that we’re edging towards the end of November, it’s clear that Christmas is not too far away. For those who celebrate, it is a time to get the family together for the festivities and with that often comes the necessity to take some time off work. However, with a large proportion of workers in the UK celebrating Christmas, how can employers go about making sure that everyone has a fair chance to take time off to spend with their loved ones?
Types of leave
There are a number of different types of leave, available to different groups of employees based on their circumstances.
Statutory holiday entitlement
The minimum statutory entitlement for most employees and workers is 5.6 weeks’ paid leave, which can include bank holidays. Of course, entitlements may be lower for part-time or irregular hours workers and should be calculated accordingly. Employees working more than the typical five-day week are still only entitled to the maximum 5.6 weeks’ paid leave (unless employers agree otherwise). Of course, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day are bank holidays, so employees in many industries will have these days off anyway.
Employers should be aware that employees will accrue holiday entitlement while off work sick, and while on maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, parental or parental bereavement leave (and whilst on neonatal leave once this comes into force in April 2025). Statutory paid leave accrued by relevant employees during this time can also be carried over, unlike leave accrued by other employees. If an employee has a planned return from parental-related leave or sickness absence it may be beneficial to plan a conversation regarding the best way to use this annual leave.
Other types of paid leave
As per the above, employees are entitled to other forms of statutory paid leave including:
- sick leave
- maternity leave
- paternity leave
- shared parental leave
- adoption leave
- parental bereavement leave
- neonatal leave (from April 2025)
Unpaid parental leave
Parents are entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child, up until the child turns 18. The amount of parental leave each parent can take in a year is four weeks for each child, unless otherwise agreed by the employer.
Parents must take parental leave as whole weeks (e.g. 1 week or 2 weeks) rather than individual days, unless the employer agrees otherwise or if the child is disabled.
Employees wishing to utilise this leave must be employed by their employer for more than a year and must give at least 21 days’ notice of the dates on which they propose to take the leave and its length. An employer must have a significant reason to postpone the leave when requested, e.g. that there would be a serious disruption to the business and the employer must only postpone on the basis that the same period of leave will be permitted beginning on a date not more than 6 months after the date initially proposed. An employer must confirm the reasons for the postponement in writing within seven days of the employee’s request and must suggest the new date for the leave to take place.
How to best manage oversubscribed annual leave periods
It’s commonplace for employers to be oversubscribed with holiday requests during the Christmas period, whether that be statutory or unpaid parental leave requests, but how do employers go about trying to ensure everyone is given some of the time off they’ve requested?
Planning in advance: Managers may wish to speak to their teams as soon as annual leave allocations are refreshed at the start of the year in order to see who is planning to take a sizeable block of time off for Christmas. They may wish to ask employees to fill out schedules/ requests in the months prior so they can find fair solutions where employees all get some time off during the festive period. For unpaid parental leave this should also ideally be discussed with employees ahead of time, and employers should ensure they consider the impact on the business before approving these requests.
Utilising an annual leave policy: Having an annual leave policy can help to manage expectations and avoid conflicting holiday requests. The policy may set out how and when to request annual leave as well as any limits on how many people can be off at one time and for how long. Employers may want to offer a shared HR system where employees can make requests, as well as see each other’s time off and holiday requests.
Considering limits on carry over/ incentives: A number of employers do offer incentives which result in employees having the ability to take additional annual leave on top of their contractual/statutory entitlements. Employers should think wisely about this e.g. limiting carry over days or removing the option to carry over completely in order to encourage employees to take their annual leave in a timely and appropriate fashion.
Being honest about the different wishes of employees and having direct conversations: Managers should have an open conversation with their employees regarding planned leave. Managers should also make it clear that they want to make sure all employees have fair opportunities when it comes to leave, which may mean opportunities for unpaid leave could be limited. Healthy conversation regarding this topic is encouraged and may help reduce the chances of tension further down the line.
Consider previous years: Managers may wish to consider the record of holiday taken in previous years. For instance, one employee may have taken a large amount of time off during the school holidays in the previous year, and as such priority could be given to other employees to do the same the following year.
Incentivise employees to work: It is not uncommon in some industries for employees to be offered double pay or time and a half for working over the Christmas bank holidays. Employers may find that a number of employees take up the opportunity to earn a bit more money by working shifts during Christmas, which can ease the burden of too many people wanting time off.
Managers should again encourage fairness amongst these employees and potentially state that the employees who had been allowed the more desired periods off in the year prior do not get first choice in the current year.
It is also worth noting that employers will likely employ staff of different faiths who do not celebrate Christmas, and therefore may opt to work over the festive period so that they can take more holiday during other periods of the year.
Potential risks employers may face when it comes to allocating holiday during busy periods
Discrimination: An argument of sex discrimination could be made in certain circumstances e.g. where employees (typically females/ mothers) are granted large amounts of annual leave, and due to this, other employees (e.g. single men) are not permitted to take annual leave during Christmas. A risk of pregnancy and maternity discrimination could also arise, e.g. if annual leave for the year ahead is planned while employees are on maternity leave without asking them for their input, despite the employee returning mid-way through the year. If holiday is requested around certain religious holidays or festivals employers should ensure that those requests are dealt with fairly to avoid claims of discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. Employers should also ensure that employees are not treated any differently as a result of them requesting annual leave around religious holidays such as Christmas.
Grievances: Perceived unfairness regarding holidays could lead to an increase in grievances raised by other employees. Handling such grievances could take a significant amount of management time and lead to further grievances being raised by other employees. Again, not handling these grievances appropriately could lead to a further risk of an employment claim being brought by a dissatisfied employee.
Conflict between employees: Competition for holiday dates is a common cause for tension amongst employees and could sour relations in a wider team. This could have a knock-on effect on productivity and the environment within the company.
It’s important to remember that legally, no one employee has a legal right to an automatic priority to take holiday over another employee when it comes to using their holiday entitlement. Employers should consider the above advice when it comes to planning for the Christmas period of increased holiday requests, to ensure it is done in a way that is fair and gives everyone the chance to take some time off.