Employer wants staff to take Christmas Day as holiday.

[TypeR]

I work in retail. Management have told all shop staff they have to take 25th December as a holiday day. Other non Retail staff in the business can have it as a regular bank holiday. Is this allowed?
Retail staff are baffled and rather cheesed of, especially as we have to work the 3 Sunday’s leading up to Christmas as well!

[aparna]

Some employers offer bank holidays and xmas as extra holiday days as a benefit. But it's not automatically part of statutory entitlement?

So unless it's in the contract they get xmas day as additional day, then it is allowed to deduct xmas or any other day from holiday allowance yes.

[Johnnytheboy]

Our leave year is allowance minus bank holidays, which you have to take if they fall on normal working days.

May be different in retail but I believe that's pretty normal.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

TypeR said:

I work in retail. Management have told all shop staff they have to take 25th December as a holiday day. Other non Retail staff in the business can have it as a regular bank holiday. Is this allowed?
Retail staff are baffled and rather cheesed of, especially as we have to work the 3 Sunday’s leading up to Christmas as well!

Isn't the easiest way to look at it is you get (for example) 28 days a year including public holidays. If you take a day off (be it on a bank holiday or not) it just comes out of the 28?

Does Christmas day fall on a Saturday, maybe that explains the differing treatment?

[geeks]

In this scenario I would offer to work Christmas Day and see what happens...

[gregs656]

Years a go when I worked for Sainsbury's they wanted staff to do this, even though they were closed. I took it unpaid in the end.

[ralphrj]

geeks said:

In this scenario I would offer to work Christmas Day and see what happens...

Not much, it is perfectly legal for an employer to specify that certain days are to be taken as holiday (but they must give notice).

If you didn't want to take it as paid leave then you would be taking it as unpaid leave.

[geeks]

ralphrj said:

geeks said:

In this scenario I would offer to work Christmas Day and see what happens...

Not much, it is perfectly legal for an employer to specify that certain days are to be taken as holiday (but they must give notice).

If you didn't want to take it as paid leave then you would be taking it as unpaid leave.

Yeah I guess its one of those things that just sounded whitty in my head

[austina35]

It's a religious holiday day. Play on that. They have to allow you time off in those circumstances. If they don't, its discrimination.

[Johnnytheboy]

austina35 said:

It's a religious holiday day. Play on that. They have to allow you time off in those circumstances. If they don't, its discrimination.

They are allowing him time off!

[Jasandjules]

What does the contract say about holidays?

[Easternlight]

Don't worry we'll be in lockdown again by then!

[vulture1]

If xmas day or new years day lands on a contracted day staff have to take it as a holiday. I see no problem with this and no-one out of 500 odd staff i have dealt with have ever had an issue with it?

[SAS Tom]

I don’t see the problem. Everyone takes it as holiday. Whether you call it holiday or bank holiday it comes out of the same entitlement so it makes no difference. You seem to be making a fuss over nothing.

[bigandclever]

vulture1 said:

If xmas day or new years day lands on a contracted day staff have to take it as a holiday. I see no problem with this and no-one out of 500 odd staff i have dealt with have ever had an issue with it?

I can see it from OP’s side .. it’s a Saturday, they’d normally be working. For reasons out of their control (law regarding no opening on Xmas Day) they cannot work that day. It’s not a Bank Holiday either. Why do the non-shop floor staff get paid for it and the shop-floor staff not?

[austina35]

bigandclever said:

vulture1 said:

If xmas day or new years day lands on a contracted day staff have to take it as a holiday. I see no problem with this and no-one out of 500 odd staff i have dealt with have ever had an issue with it?

I can see it from OP’s side .. it’s a Saturday, they’d normally be working. For reasons out of their control (law regarding no opening on Xmas Day) they cannot work that day. It’s not a Bank Holiday either. Why do the non-shop floor staff get paid for it and the shop-floor staff not?

So Christmas day is not a bank holiday? This isnt Islamabad we are talking about.

[Pit Pony]

But the UK statutory bank holiday this year is Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th So does that mean you should work 25th and 26th ?

Working in a factory, we have been told we are closed From 3pm Thursday 23rd until 5am Tuesday 4th Jan and have to take 6 days out of this year's 33 days and 1 day out of next year's 33 days.

33 = 25 plus 8

There is also a week shut down in August but as a Manufacturing Engineer, i will be working my arse off as I expect that all the layout changes will be going on, and we will all need to recalibrate and revalidate processes.

[Johnnytheboy]

Jasandjules said:

What does the contract say about holidays?

This.

[Tommo87]

austina35 said:

So Christmas day is not a bank holiday? This isnt Islamabad we are talking about.

No, the Monday and Tuesday are bank holidays in leiu of Xmas and Boxing Day falling over the weekend.

Xmas day is therefore a Saturday/normal working day if you are contracted to work Saturdays.
Boxing Day is a Sunday and NYD is the following weekend.

[bigandclever]

austina35 said:

So Christmas day is not a bank holiday? This isnt Islamabad we are talking about.

Correct. On both counts