Christmas leave priority

No adult will be a perpetual beneficiary but those without children will be perpetually at a disadvantage because it is highly likely there will always be new parents.

Childfree people also have families. Arguably, if you have children at home with you then you can celebrate whenever you get home from work. OP notes having to travel to see family, meaning they would likely come home to an empty house.

OP, can your HR explain what happens when there are more of their ridiculous special priority one entitlement group than there are holiday slots available?

Or if the dying relative issue comes up?
Or any other similar scenario where certain pp have bountifully deigned to accept they have equivalent "status" as they, the blessed ✨parents✨

And the “harm” to the child for saying “mummy won’t be home until 5pm on Christmas Day, she has to go to work, but we will do presents and dinner afterwards” is what, exactly? Don’t try to couch this as “harmful” to children. Approximately 50% of children in the UK, as a result of divorce, don’t spend Christmas with both parents. Should all those parents have stayed married to “think of the children”??

There will always be those who try every trick imaginable to not work over Christmas, or indeed at other times when most people would like to be off. I remember the manager who wanted her team member to log on early one Boxing Day whilst off for a fortnight themselves, and did not even ask in person or phone call.

My opinion is those who worked last Christmas should get first choice not to. And if you work Christmas, not New Years Eve and vice versa.

That isn't a summary of anything. Again, stop taking stuff out of context. The discussion was that giving parents priority over Christmas leave is another example where parents get an advantage. The point was that it's the child that gets the advantage in most cases and not the parent

If you had access to state funded education and healthcare as a child then you need to contribute as an adult to repay the state's investment in you. Don't assume you're funding everyone else if you haven't paid your own debt off yet. Many of these children you're apparently funding may well go on to earn much more than you and repay the state not only for the investment they made in their childhood but also they will fund your state pension.

I'm a net contributor too and I'm paying disability benefits and old people's bus passes etc. Does that mean I get every Christmas off? Do people that claim UC top ups or disbility benefits lose their right to leave over Christmas? What exactly is your point?

In a way, it could be argued to be a good life lesson if on some Christmas Days, it is different. Many children may later on have as their first job one that has working over the Christmas season, such as in hospitality.

So me actually wanting to EVER have Christmas off, or Easter, or any time during the school holidays & half term, is completely selfish and I should never ever have any time off that may potentially coincide with the blessed parents wants or desires?

Try looking at it from the point of view of somebody who doesn't have children for whatever reason. You used the term "emotional intelligence" seeming to mean "thinking in a different way to me" - maybe you meant something more along the lines of empathy? I do have empathy for others, but it gets very tired when it's 100% me having to give way and others never think of me.

How do you think people in the emergency services cope with things like Christmas Day? They amend their day at home around their working shifts, have Christmas Dinner at 5pm rather than 12 noon or vice versa, have some gifts first thing and the others after dinner, even do Christmas Day on Boxing Day.

And we weren't even talking about Christmas Day itself here - the OP is referring to Christmas Eve and the days between Christmas and New Year. Why the hell should I not just occasionally have that nice 10 day break (for the cost of only 3-4 day's leave) that parents think is their right?

At one time people didn’t generally put their children first, sadly.

No adult will be a perpetual beneficiary but those without children will be perpetually at a disadvantage because it is highly likely there will always be new parents.

This.

Kids are always more important than you, yeah.

My nephews and nieces often had three or even four Christmases growing up: mum's house, dad's house and then the aunties, uncles and grandparents who hadn't made it to either of the parent's days. They thought it was fantastic! One of the meetups was in February IIRC.

They are in their 20s and 30s now, but I still might give them a ring and check if they have been permanently damaged from losing the "magical-ness" of the one and only exact date, as it seems to be a big life-changing issue according to some pp here.

I agree with you 100% OP. And I was child free for years until I had my son. You should not be further down the pecking order because you don’t have children. It’s also incredibly insensitive to people who might be struggling to have children in the first place. It used to drive me mad at work when people with children thought they should have special rights to things. And it still does!

I would be upset at this rule as well, particularly the grandparents part which feels completely unnecessary.

But I hate these arguments of "You chose to have kids" as if therefore all parents should be able to do the impossible things like arrange childcare during the Christmas holidays when everywhere is shut.

Society does need to make it easier for people with children, and that means some allowances. Otherwise what are you saying, no one should have children at all? The world would literally grind to a halt and we'd end up with all old people and no one to look after them or pay taxes.

By the same logic people could just as easily argue that you knew your parents lived 5 hours drive away when you took this job and that might be inconvenient for the Christmas period..

they really aren't.

Only to their parents

Well, it's sad you think so. And a bit shortsighted. But there you go.

Not necessarily. I believe my kids are more important than you. But I also believe your kids are more important than me 🤷🏻‍♀️

My point is that parents do not have a special entitlement to Christmas and New Year off work. As you well know. Your argument was that they do, I disagree.
Also. Don’t YOU assume I haven’t paid off the states investment in me. Why would you assume that? I can count and add and I have. By an enormous margin. And I continue to do so. Having a child that may or may not contribute to society is NOT the only way to contribute to society. If it is, i will call my accountant, and tell them my “contribution” is clearly not required. Oh….but it is. Isn’t it?

If this was a new rule , I for one would be very pissed off, I work in the NHS and accepted as part and parcel of that, that I would be working some Christmases even when I had very young children. Having done my fair share, I would be annoyed to hear that I now don't qualify for Christmas off until one of my children produces their own children.