Christmas leave -v- New Years leave

[Homethroughthepuddles]

Someone in here has just suggested that staff with young children be given priority for Christmas leave, and staff without young children be given priority for leave on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Sigh! When will some people get that not every adult without small children wants to go out and paint the town red on NYE? I haven't gone out to celebrate New Year in about ten years. I'm quite happy at home with a glass of champagne and the telly.

On the other hand I do value Christmas day with my extended family.

AIBU to wish people would stop suggesting this as some kind of 'fair' compromise. Maybe some young and childfree people might love the opportunity to go wild on New Year's Eve. But many people have no interest whatsoever in doing so, regardless of their family situation.

You are absolutely right.

In fact it is often the younger people with no children, especially the single ones, who are more likely to want to travel miles to stay with their own parents at Christmas and if they have to work are likely to have a thoroughly lonely miserable Christmas away from their families.

I totally agree with you that it is family holiday and not all about children. I think the Xmas holidays should be rotated as best one can.

Surely if anything parents should be first to work on the basis that they'll have someone to go home to after their shift so won't have to spend part of the day alone. Additionally if is easier to move xmas plans when they only affect your own household than when you are travelling to a relatives house half way across the country like many single people have to in order to not spend Christmas alone.

This has on occasion meant that employees who are parents are not getting time off in the summer school holidays

As a child free I cannot think of anything worse than taking my leave in the summer school holidays! It has often been advantageous in my organisations that there was me who was not competing for leave in school holidays including half term.

The exception is Christmas, I want to enjoy that holiday, although fortunately my line of work is not one that requires Christmas cover.

I have this Christmas off as I worked last year next year I will be expected to work.
I 7sually work nee year as I don't really celebrate it.

We work in a small NHS department. The manager put out an email saying we had to work one or the other this year and it was first come first serve.
I don’t have children by choice but I would much rather have Christmas off because I go to church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Plus on Christmas Eve it’s tradition that we spend the day (having arranged an event to feed the homeless a full Christmas dinner. One year we cooked and served 300 people. If I worked I couldn’t do that.

I have to work both! Luckily we get double time and DP is off for the whole two weeks anyway, so we'll just celebrate on my days off instead.

But I don't agree with priority being given to those with families. My parents worked in the NHS and often had to work Christmas Day. Such is life.

I agree. I hate new years. To me, Christmas is about family. That doesn't mean kids. It means everyone. We have more adults than kids in the family. It's magical for kids but I love seeing all the family. It should be done fairly!

"No-one made you have kids, so you've got no more right to holidays than me"

I've NEVER gone out at New Year. I have no desire to, but I love Christmas so would prefer to have that time off.

As it is, I work in a university and we close from 21st December to 3rd January so it's not a problem

Totally agree with you OP.

I have small kids, no one else in my team does. We don't have to work xmas / ny but we do need cover for the days in between. We take it in turns.

I would be VERY pissed off if I didn't have kids and had to give up my leave for some one who did.

Where I work nobody is allowed holiday from 2nd week in Dec til 2nd week in Jan. If Christmas Eve and New Years eve is a contracred shift you work it. Boxing Day and NewYears day is treated the same as all bank holidays, you are required to work them if need be but everyone gets to say which ones they would prefer to work, if possible.

It should definitely be on a fairness basis. We do a sort of first-ask vs who-had-it-before system which works well and evens out.

Though I am the one annoying one with small children and a DH who works in the emergency services, so unfortunately Christmas is about the one time where I can't juggle annual leave alongside his. This year is the first time I've had to really ask for certain days off as we have literally no childcare at all. But luckily my team are very understanding (plus it helps that I did between Christmas and New Year last year just eight weeks back after mat leave!)

You might struggle to get a childminder on Christmas Day mind you.

This. I hate all the complaining about parents getting special privilages. Some of us (not necessarily always parents) have caring responsibilities that are actually more important than work. A reasonable workplace should take account of that rather than using a supposedly 'fair' system that actually systematically penalises and excludes those who need flexibility. So someone caring for a sick family member or someone who is a single parent should take priority for leave because the alternative is often not working at all. A parent with a SAHP to cover all the caring responsibilities, not so much.

And I say that as someone who a) will be working over the festive period and b) is hosting all the ILs for Christmas this year. Of course this crazy idea means the DC will have a fun Christmas with their extended family even if I have to go into work on Christmas Day. And I have a good excuse to escape if the ILs get a bit much!

You are completely right. When dh was in the military his section always had to provide 24/7 cover. Before we had children, he worked every Christmas so that the parents could have the time off with their children. When we had our children, all that was conveniently forgotten and he still had to work every bloody Christmas Day (apart from the one where he worked Christmas Eve night and Christmas night). So unfair and it is one of the reasons that keeps dh and I in jobs that are not 100% making us happy, because we both get the whole Christmas/new year period off as standard and that makes up for it In our heads.

I hate all the complaining about parents getting special privileges

In my experience, it isn’t parents who don’t have childcare demanding Christmas off, it’s those who just would prefer to spend it with their children. Obviously wanting to be at home is understandable but it doesn’t give them more right not to work than me.

This used to drive me nuts pre DD! I’m a nurse, have been since well before I had my daughter. I loved Christmas then, and I love it now. Similar to OP, I haven’t gone out on NYE for years.

As a ward sister I used to do the Christmas rota. Total nightmare. Some (not all, of course!) parents making comments about Christmas being more important for families with children. Well, I’m my mum’s child and I want to spend Christmas with her!

I have worked in places where the same parents with young kids hogged the leave around Christmas by booking it in January every year

I don't have an issue with this, if you really need it you plan early. I absolutely need the days around Christmas off as I have to travel to my mother so I need 24th and 27th off.

It is possible that my boss will say something like "you had it last year so can't have it this year" in which case I will hand in my notice.

If I had small kids it would be a lot less of an issue.

And I really couldn't care less about New Year.

In my experience, it isn’t parents who don’t have childcare demanding Christmas off, it’s those who just would prefer to spend it with their children.

I agree. I've only ever heard the emotional blackmail bullshit.

My son is grown up and I love Christmas and want time off to celebrate with my family and just relax after a tough year. Joyfully I now work at an organisation that shuts the office over Christmas and gives us an extra 5 days leave so I get Christmas AND New Year off now

I should say that nobody except me in my team has children. But only 2/8 of us are allowed to be off on any day.

This kind of shitty treatment from bad managers crops up every year. Leave over the Christmas and New Year period needs to be allocated fairly irrespective of whether staff have children or not.

I don't have an issue with this, if you really need it you plan early. I absolutely need the days around Christmas off as I have to travel to my mother so I need 24th and 27th off.

It is possible that my boss will say something like "you had it last year so can't have it this year" in which case I will hand in my notice.

So basically you have every single Christmas off because you thrraten to quit if you don't.

Where I work we get Christmas points for working Christmas day, and Leave points which are determined by which leave you take, eg Christmas week or school hols you only get 1 point, 3rd week in November you get 6 points. I'm never likely to get Christmas Day off due to my Christmas points - I've only managed to get one in 20 years. But I do manage my Leave points very carefully and hoard them for use at Christmas. Soon my kids will be old enough for me to take them with me to work, then I'll be looking at Christmas somewhere like Japan or Canada where the snow is good and we'll have a skiing Christmas!