To think you shouldn't have to work in the office on Christmas Eve?

How about we let people decide for themselves based on their own circumstances and work ethic whether they could work from home or not.

The benefit of being at family though is that there are other people around to look after children / keep them occupied whilst they work or to make you food etc so it can also lead to more productivity.

Are you in London OP there are flights between Gatwick, Heathrow and London city to Newquay on the 25th.

I think if you're being paid to work ypu should be at least attempting to work. I suspect a lot of people would struggle to WFM that close to Xmas, especially if they had children or family visiting. 😬

I think many people allowed to 'work from home' on Xmas Eve would end up not doing employment related tasks.

I'm sorry you have no work ethic.

The same amount as they would in the office? If there are genuinely urgent actions or on going tasks that need covering Christmas Eve (presumably so if OP was refused annual leave as others are off), then surely it would be noticed if whoever was working wasn't doing them? If they're not important or wouldn't be noticed then seems unreasonable for the leave to not be granted; it's either important to be in or not.

I think many people allowed to 'work from home' on Xmas Eve would end up not doing employment related tasks.

Why do people think this? I know most people are monitored as heavily as I am but..

My manager can see when I log in, log out, take a call, put myself unavailable to make a brew, how long I have been on my lunch, how many phone calls I've taken, every single statistic he can see in the office
I don't leave my desk during the day unless it's my lunch or I'm going to the toilet

If I wasn't working, I would be sacked

Thank god most employers are seeing sense and stop people skiv... working from home.

I agree, I can't ever work from home but for jobs that can be done remotely, one day is hardly going to make a difference; OP will still be working! Some people are just so pathetic and bitter they'd rather others live in misery to avoid them feeling like they're missing out.

I think some posters in this thread need to be visited by a few ghosts of Christmas and lighten up a bit.

Nobody is going to write on your gravestone that you worked every Christmas Eve.

The way she is stressing about it can make her prone to catch bugs etc.

All the places I've worked with a bit of flexibility and give and take between office and employees have had much better morale and staff retention than ones where everyone is suspicious of anyone who works from home and thinks they must be screwing over the business.

Because for most people who work in offices, let's be honest it's really not that deep. There is very little work that needs to be done on Xmas Eve when it won't be looked at again until the 27th. Of course, I'm not talking about emergency services, 24h on call services, public-facing services etc etc. I'm talking about standard office jobs, who manage to close every weekend for 2 days without the world falling apart, and who could definitely let employees wfh for an extra day ahead of Christmas without it being a massive problem.

I'm so glad to work in an industry where this kind of over-devotion to your basic office job during Christmas is unheard of - most of my colleagues are packing in loads of AL throughout December and over the Xmas break as we work hard most of autumn and people always have excess leave to take before year end.

I think you might be ill on Xeve...

The irony is that workers who simply see themselves as tools for productivity, who need firm rules and think rigidly and without emotion or nuance are likely to be replaced by AI a lot sooner than those who don't.

Your employer won't give a shit about all your years of obedience when they can get a machine to do your tasks and never take any days off at all.

The key thing here though is that you made it work as you had to but that it was a pain.
As employers we shouldn’t be making things harder for people for no reason (business need/ personal development need etc).

I am shocked by how many people on here assume that if someone is working from home then they are taking advantage and not actually going to work. Do we reallly have no trust or faith in each other.
I (and many of my colleagues) can work very well from home and do so very regularly. I do see lots of benefits of going to the office for collaboration/ coaching purposes but it’s not needed every day.

As a civil servant, I have very rarely been able to take Christmas Eve off. It is expected we go into the office in the morning, but they close up at lunchtime.

DPs on both sides live 2.5 hours away, and it was further when we were going out and newly married as the motorway network wasn't finished so we still had to go through a number of large towns which were always busy that afternoon, as were the roads generally. So it wasn't unusual to take 4 hours or more to get "home" on 24th.

And as Creche was already closed, dd had to come with us to work, then pack up and go.

It was a pain - and we did stay in our own house a good few years because travel was too complicated when added to family stresses. And travelled more often in the years we could do it over the weekend.

You plan ahead, make sure you have a car picnic for snacks en route and get a hot coffee as you set off (and preferably have a decent meal for lunch before leaving). Know where to stop for rest and convenience breaks. Fill the car with petrol/diesel in advance, so breaks are for convenience or rest mainly and fuel is a bonus. Make sure the car is checked for tyre pressures, oil, washer fluid and couple of days before.

Have everything packed the evening before, and if possible, that includes the car. AIM to leave straight from work, and not need to go home in between. Get a good sleep on 23rd.

Think of things to keep dc entertained (it might not be a normal thing, but maybe playing a dvd is a good thing on this day, for example). Make sure you have dc well fed but not too full (so they are comfortable but less prone to car sickness), warm enough to maybe have a nap, (maybe bring a blanket to throw over them), and a list (in your head or on paper) of car games to play or songs to sing etc to pass time when they are awake. I spy, how many yellow cars, who sees a bus first....that kind of thing.

It's all doable - but tell manager that you need to leave as early as possible because you are travelling (and tell them how long) but cannot book leave - they may be able to let you leave earlier than usual (even for 24th) or even allow you to take leave after all.

Did you forget the part where he WFH from his holiday home and manages to work even though he could be distracted from having a good time. Fuck me, do the bootlickers not understand the hypocrisy at play here.

Then why doesn't the boss stop fucking doing it and lead by example instead of having long weekends wfh in his holiday home!

@SweetSakura

Yes, same. People remember stuff like this and it can be the trigger for a valuable person to leave come January.

I'd honestly love to know who these posters are banging on about normal working days, productivity and deadlines. What jobs do they actually do? I can't think of anyone I know who is/ has a manager like this.

Pretty sure the reason I always had such good retention in my team's was because I was sensible about requests like the ops.

Maybe he thinks that someone traveling to the family home for Christmas Eve will be spending Christmas Eve with the family, instead of doing the work they're being paid for

Thoughts are not facts. If the OP is otherwise a good worker, there's no reason to think that.

I think it's reasonable to travel on 23rd and work from your relatives on 24th.

Explain that if you have to work in the office you can 't actually go to see your relatives for Christmas.

Most office jobs finish at noon/early afternoon but by the time you've got home you might struggle to get a train anyway as they finish early on Christmas Eve.

It does seem mean if there's no actual reason to be in the office on Christmas Eve. It's not a retail job, and yes I know they have worse working conditions but the OP isn't in a job where she needs to be somewhere, her boss just wants her to be. Want and need aren't the same. Her boss could be reasonable.

It's not like it where I work now, but in some of my previous jobs the employer would allow people to go early on Christmas Eve and NYE but wouldn't say until the day, and you had to hang around until they sent an email out to say you could go. That was really annoying.

It never ceases to amaze me how half of the posters on mumsnet turn into Victorian workhouse owners on every employment thread.

I think we're all aware that some people do need to work as normal/ perhaps even harder over Christmas, but presumably op isn't in one of those jobs.

Most office workers do a lot less on Christmas Eve and some are given it as a bonus day off.

Sensible employers understand give and take - if you are happy to be flexible with them, they will be with you. This has always been my experience.

And managers should not be asking you to be in if they aren't prepared to do the same.