Christmas leave priority

Our boss used to do prioitise people with children unofficially. He would say it out loud, but even he wouldn't have put it in writing.

It was extremely acrimonious as everyone is far from family (as in different countries, even continents) and we only get one bank holiday!

It's more or less on a rotating schedule now, but some years we get nothing, like last year (and potentially this year). It's really sad.

But presumably the business needs these people, that's my point. It's not as easy as saying: "you're a single parent so fuck off and resign". That single parent might be an excellent employee (and as a manager myself, trust me, it is incredibly difficult to find good employees). So allowances must be made.

I can understand why you think this unfair.
I think the first come first served idea is also unfair and possibly unhelpful as people will just request christmas leave as soon as if allowed and then some criteria would have to be applied?
I worked in a clinical NHS setting for 30 yrs and different authoriities had different criteria (non of which were entirely fair) some examples were: children under 12 prioritised but not guaranteed, alternate years,Slight changes in shift hours, first come first served, draw out of hat,if you worked christmas you got first choice of new year .
I worked 12 christmas days in a row,but often had boxing day off. Then worked 5 christmas days but worked boxing day. I year i had full Christmas week off.
In fairness some combination has to be used to determine priority. What i thought was the best system i encountered was where everyone got together and politely requested their preferred dates and it was discussed and worked out with give and take. This year one of my colleagues with children aged 7 and 14yrs has just swapped with a colleague with no children (her mums very ill and it might be her last christmas)

The way you describd is totally unfair. It needs to be a rota basis or names out of a hat.

Yeah, that’s not quite what I am saying. I think there should be a system but it shouldn’t be based on children (or grand children!). You have to consider the whole team, and be fair.

It's an odd way to prioritise but I don't think first come / first served is fair either if this is how the service needs to run. I would hope it could be a general conversation about who needs to travel, who wants NYE instead, who would be happy to work Xmas but wants school holidays etc...

I don't have children but still don't see why those that do take priority. I have very elderly parents that would be on their own if they weren't with me on Christmas day.

I get prioritising group 1, but the rest, it should be do it your first year and every other year thereafter.

If you have older children, don't you class as category 3 as they are over 7 years old?

Some people work Christmas day

Kids shouldn’t be taken into consideration. And I saw that as a parent of 3 under 12.

I think it’s wrong to give a grandparent priority over a parent of an 8 year old for example

Your elderly parents don't need childcare.

You can't leave a 2 year old home alone for 9 hours. And there are almost no childcare options on Christmas and Boxing Day (unless you're rich and have a nanny willing to work those days).

I agree! Or if someone is off sick or leave when it opens.

I think first come first served is perfectly fair. If you really need a particular slot off, you book it in good time.

I agree with you OP that you are your parent's child and they have a right to see you too. Also, small kids can celebrate any day, it's no big deal if they have Christmas Day on 27th December, for example.

My caveat is that it is near impossible to find childcare - but if i were in that position I'd make sure I booked those days off in the first minute I was allowed to.

When my son was at school I used to book May half term off as soon as we were allowed to. as it was the one week we really wanted.

That is utterly ridiculous, it would make me want to resign. Is 18 the upper age limit for a child or grandchild to count?

And of course Christmas childcare is a pain but why is that the fault of the people without kids who under this system likely would never get a Christmas off? They are just as entitled to spend Christmas with their families. Your childcare issues shouldn’t affect someone else’s life.

And presumably they value these employees, so they need to keep them.
Do they not value employees without very small children?

You’re assuming a lot… I could potentially be asked to work Christmas Eve Christmas Day and Boxing Day as 12 hour shifts with sleep ins attached. Plus then New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as 12 hour shifts with sleep ins. Not everyone gets bank holidays off.

I don't think they can discriminate on the basis of people reproductive history. I'm pretty sure that's not legal

People with small children physically cannot work Christmas Day, unless they have grandparents help. Nurseries are closed on Christmas and Boxing Day.

Agree, I think it should be rotated.

I have a feeling that someone in HR was having a fine afternoon and then this unauthorised email got sent to them (probably multiple times).

Their day is now not going as well.

But the OP is off Christmas Day and Boxing Day the issue seems to be other leave days

They don't need childcare but they won't be around forever.

But I agree that ultimately you can't leave a child at home all day so in the end the parent without other means of childcare will have to have that time off. Unless they can take the child)ren) to work with them I guess! But that's a different situation to simply wanting Christmas Day off when you have another parent/someone else who can look after them that day.