12/ 05/ 2005
by Charles R. McConnell
Whether as single days, the holidays themselves, or multiple vacation days, most working people want time off over the holidays. Staff scheduling during the period from the middle of Thanksgiving week to Jan. 2 can be anything from nonissue to nightmare depending on the nature of the business. Most holiday scheduling issues arise in businesses that get busier during that period and organizations for which a holiday period means business as usual. Businesses that slow down or even shut down for part of the holiday period experience far fewer scheduling problems.
For people who work for business-as-usual employers, like convenience stores, essential public services and critical 24-hour, 7-day activities such as hospitals, holiday scheduling is usually a concern. And holiday scheduling sometimes approaches the aforementioned nightmare character in businesses that get appreciably busier during the holidays. Consider the scheduling plight of many retail firms.
An overwhelming number of retailers make 20 percent or more of their annual sales during the holiday shopping season. Though many in retail would welcome holiday time off, the holiday period is their busiest — and most profitable — time. During this period retailers are more likely to be adding help rather than allowing much time off.
To determine who does or doesn't work over the holidays, it's best to lay the ground rules well before the holiday period is imminent. Write down your holiday schedule policy and distribute it to every employee. This policy should be communicated to new employees upon hire, clearly spelling out holiday work requirements and scheduling practices. Such a policy must cover: how far in advance time-off requests should be submitted; on what basis requests are considered (seniority, first-come-first-served, or whatever); and any restrictions on how many people can be off at one time. The importance of a holiday-time-off policy cannot be overstated: clear rules, as flexible as the business can tolerate, and known and accepted by all employees, will go a long way toward minimizing disputes over holiday scheduling.
Have a policy and stick with it. Consistency plays best all the way around; some might not be wild about their schedule, but they're more likely to be accepting if they see its fairness. Never try to schedule based on what you know about employees' personal lives, for example who you think should or shouldn't get time off because of family needs or lack of same. Decisions based on employees' personal circumstances are usually discriminatory.
Much scheduling strife involves the holidays themselves and often the day before each, most commonly Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. When beginning to schedule for these, first ask for volunteers. You never know; some people will work a holiday for the sake of overtime or holiday pay, some will volunteer for one particular day to get another day off. (If you're fortunate enough to get more volunteers than you need, consider selection according to seniority.) In some 24/7 operations, for example hospitals, essential employees are scheduled—weeks in advance—so that one who works Thanksgiving Day will have Christmas Day off, and vice versa.
Some additional ways of handling holiday schedules are:
- Use temporary help, part-time or full-time. Temps can provide relief for regular staff as well as supplementing staff in coping with increased workload. Temps can come from agencies, family members and friends of current employees, or perhaps a call-in list of occasional workers.
- If you presently have part-time employees, consider temporarily extending their hours to pick up some of the additional work and provide more flexibility for regular staff.
- Consider a compressed workweek. Say someone who usually works five, eight-hour days is temporarily scheduled for weeks of four, 10-hour days. This can provide some staff with a periodic day off for holiday activities or personal business.
Be as flexible as your business can tolerate when scheduling around the holidays. One frequent consequence of rigid scheduling during holiday periods is an increase in sick calls as people look for a day off here and there for shopping and other holiday business.
Overall, have a fair and flexible holiday scheduling policy and apply it consistently.
