to think that that employees with small dc huold have preference on having xmas eve off work?

[pippylongstockings]

I work in an office with over 15 employees - 4 of us have young DC ranging from 11 to 2 years old - Surely at christmas it is not being unreasonable to think that the minority of 4 could have Christmas Eve off work?

BUT No, it is done on a random lottery - why ?

Honestly, I feel christmas is for the children and working til 4pm on xmas eve is not a happy place to be if you have kids at home waiting for you.

Without wanting to put words in her mouth, I think the OP would be more than willing to negotiate. It is the random lottery she was objecting to.

And nobody needs to be at home with their kids on Xmas eve. They're both a preference and you haven't explained why one is more important than the other. This is exactly the reason why I took such a hard line stance when I was involved with this kind of thing.

I thought the point of the OP was that the lottery system was unfair, to everyone.

I don't, personally, think anyone has any automatic right to time off at any given time, regardless of their circumstances.

If a team of staff can't get their heads together and work it out between themselves (unlikely in my experience) then taking turns is the next best option.

A lottery basically means that everyone is at risk of not getting anything they want.

gaelic, to be fair, her OpP doesn't read like that though. it reads like she expects priority for having dcs.

So it's not a fair compromise for someone to have Xmas Eve off and work other days over Xmas instead?

Anyone asking for the full period off to jet off on holiday at christmas is taking the piss I think.

hubbly the lottery scheme only gets a mention in the Op because it is what is actually happening rather than her getting priority. she doesn't say that she thinks taking turns would be better than a lottery. she says she thinks she should have priority. i don't think the flaw of the lottery scheme is teh point of teh OP at all.

LookToWindward - rather obviously, a pint of beer does not have the capacity to love somebody. I'm glad you're not my manager.

I work with an old boy who has literally no one to spend Xmas with. The Xmas eve booze up is the one thing that ge looks forward to at Christmas. Imo just as valid a reason to have the day off....

I think pippy actually clarified that wasn't what she meant in her later posts.

I didn't actually read the original OP in that way anyway, although I can see how it could be. It's in AIBU, so of course, an invite to feel most highly aggrieved and the outrageous demands of selfish WOHM [hgrin]

I will be working late on Christmas Eve for the 3rd year going. The other blokes are really sweet and one has offered to let me go by 10pm. Otherwise I get home at around 3.30am and the children are up at 5am.

The need of the child is not the responsibility of a singleton. Yes, people who work together should pull together as a team and work things out fairly. But don't expect people to take responsibility for the emotional needs of your children. That's your lookout and they have their own lives to deal with. Be grateful if your single teammates make allowances for you, but they shouldn't have to always take your kids into consideration.

Oh and plenty of people go on short breaks during the xmas period. I hear skiing is rather popular at that time of year in fact. It's not taking the piss,if your job allows you to do this. Obviously, many jobs will not permit you to book the whole week off. I would presume that if you were allowed to do this, it would be on the understanding that the roles next year would be reversed and you would have last dibs.

That is the whole problem with this darned country. Don't get me started.

(DH is staying up with DD so I can try to sleep and not be awake til 4 am again. I'm supposed to be in bed!)

I don't think anyone is suggesting that their colleagues should take responsibility for their children's emotional needs.

It's about give and take and it cuts both ways.

Nope Kat, you want a week skiing, you do outside of the christmas period.

Your skiing needs do not take priority over your colleagues holiday needs. Ever.

I do think it is important to cater for working parents in fact. Kids are important. I'm all for longer mat leave, better flexible working arrangements to be made compulsory, affordable childcare,paternity leave, ability to work part time without hindering prospects and so on and so forth. I think they are the real issues in allowing people to work to support their kids.

Not wrapping up presents on one day of the year.

"It's about give and take and it cuts both ways."

Which is exactly why the op (or anyone else) shouldn't expect to be given priority just because she has children.

depends on your job I suppose. Ordinarily I would agree with you. In many jobs it would not be fair to your co-workers. In fact a lot of jobs don't require much work between xmas and new year, and are quite willing to let employees take the time off. In a job where 24/7 cover is required, it would be quite ridiculous!

It was just an illustration that xmas is not just about parents and children and that people have different ideas about how to spend it.

I'm having the whole period off. Ah nice.

ChaoticAngel, the OP was perhaps badly worded, certainly it's put a lot of people's backs up.

However, Pippy has reiterated that it's the lottery system that she objects to, as it's unfair and doesn't take into account anyone's preferences.

It's lazy management in my view.

Well indeed, if your workplace is closed, then it really doesn't matter where you are or what you do.

I didn't have DC when I was working. I would avoid taking holidays during the summer holidays to that my colleagues with children could.

It was cheaper to fly outside of that period anyway - win/win.

Oops, sorry, I've just reread the op's update and somehow missed that bit [hblush]. I think it's time for bed :)

Maybe in the op's case they could have asked for preferences and then done the lottery bit, if necessary, for those who wanted xmas eve off. Still not ideal but that way the day off would have gone to those who wanted it and those who weren't bothered could have got NYE(?) off instead.

I will be in the minority here but before I had children I always offered to, and did, work Xmas eve so that colleagues who had children had the chance to have the day off. This is because I thought Xmas was for children and despite my family living 3 hours drive away.

[Polished halo emoticon]

Lottery's probably the fairest way of doing it when too many people want the same day off to be honest. Those who WANT to work it go on the rota first (there are odd people out there who hate Xmas who'd love to hide away at work, there are those who'd like to do the days they have to work on a quieter day than normal - hubby tends to do this with bank holidays), and then lottery for the rest - because any other criteria (unless you're keeping tabs on who had last year off or whatever) starts to get into the "who matters most-fest" where we get down to things like do parents matter more/those with relatives miles away/Christians (and no sane employer's going to risk THAT can of politically correct worms lol).

You can't constantly crap on those without kids - otherwise then you get the bubbling resentment and lack of cooperation when the chips are down. If you were constantly given the crappy shifts, told your life and family wasn't significant enough to matter - would you WANT to go the extra mile to help out a colleague needing a day off to look after a sick child? You might the first few times - but after the 3rd Christmas in a row where you're pushed into being at work and can't get to see your own family on Christmas Day because you finish too late on Christmas Eve... you'd start to get mightily pissed off at it. It cuts both ways if you're in a job where the service levels have to be continued over the festive period.

BTW - I have no kids (I'm on the site for other reasons before any other fucktard demands I justify my existence on here)... and I can't think of anything more hellish as a prospect than New Year's Eve out on the town! Don't stereotype - I'd gladly work NYE - I hate the fucking occasion.