3 Ideas for Managing Staff Holidays Over Christmas 

Managing staff holidays can be difficult and we all expect the odd argument over the festive period. But workplace conflict often comes before December 25th as everyone competes for time off work.  
Don’t leave holiday decision making to the last minute. Keep your staff on-side and your business running with these three ideas for managing staff Christmas holidays. 

# 1 – Start the Conversation Early 

As a general rule of thumb, employees should ask for holiday with twice the amount of notice as the leave being taken. That means if one of your team wants two weeks off over Christmas, they need to ask four weeks before the first day of leave.   
For employers, the rules are slightly less stringent as you only need to provide like-for-like notice. If you’re going to refuse a holiday request for one week’s leave, you should provide your refusal at least one week before it’s due to start. 
Many employees will seek to take at least seven working days off over Christmas. So you need to allow enough time for leave to be requested, decisions to be made and approval or refusal to be given. 
A good way to make decisions quickly, is to hold team meetings. This allows you to communicate the cover you need and identify anyone who’s willing to work. If you’ve got sufficient voluntary cover, this could resolve any issues before they arise. 

# 2 – Use Technology 

Christmas is often a quiet period for many businesses, which could make home working a great way to keep your doors virtually open.  
If you produce physical goods, it’s likely that you’ll shut production down over the festive period, although you might require someone to answer emails and calls. This kind of work can easily be carried out from home if you have the relevant call divert and IT systems. 
Service businesses are also well placed to enable employees to work from home given the right technology. But you’ll need to trust employees to work from a convenient location – whether that’s their own home or a relative’s.  
This approach sends a good signal about your level of confidence in your staff. And by enabling those who support the business to work flexibly, potentially even with reduced hours to fit around other commitments, your team will thank you for it.  

# 3 – Be Firm, Flexible and Fair When Managing Staff Holidays

As an employer you are legally entitled to prevent employees from taking holiday. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be human. Being clear about what’s required and giving everyone the same opportunity to have time off is a good way to be firm but fair.  
If there’s one person who always gets their holiday request in early, let them know that you need to ensure everyone has an equitable chance of doing the same. Ask all staff to put in their requests by an agreed deadline and let everyone know you’ll make a decision with all the information to hand.  
If you do need someone to sacrifice their holiday, you could tell them that they’ll be first in line for summer holiday requests.  
Or ask employees to choose between time off over Christmas or New Year. This could work well if some of your workforce have young children as they’re more likely to prioritise Christmas. Those without kids might be happier to have time off to celebrate new year. 
Christmas holiday pressure is also another reason for ensuring staff diversity. Non-Christians could be happy to work over the Christmas period in return for time off at other times of the year. For example, to cover their own religious festivals. 
By showing employees that everyone is being treated in line with the same rules, they’re less likely to feel resentful if they don’t get the time off they want.  
With most people celebrating Christmas, you’re bound to have managing staff holidays on the to do list and get a deluge of holiday requests. Putting a fair plan in place well in advance is vital to ensure employee engagement and business continuity. 
If you need pragmatic advice on any HR topic, get in touch on 0330 555 1139 or at hello@tercushr.co.uk