We’re well and truly on the run-up to Christmas now and for business owners the main priority is to get organised for the extra demands of the festive season. It's important to get things clear as early as possible so that employees are certain about what their rights and responsibilities are. Amidst the tinsel, the present wrapping, the partying and the eating, employers must attend to the nuts and bolts of ensuring their business runs as smoothly as possible.
Here are some answers to questions we are often asked at this time of year:
What if I want to close down over the holiday period?
A ‘closedown’ happens when a business shuts down all or part of its operation for a specified period, usually over Christmas and New Year. A closedown can be applied across an entire workplace or for just part of the business. It is good practice to refer to these customary closedowns in the company’s employment agreements or as a clause in the code of conduct manual.
Such planned closedowns may only take place once a year and the employer may require employees to stay away from work during the period of the closedown, even where this means they must take unpaid leave if they do not have enough accrued or entitled holiday to cover the whole closedown period. Employees must be given at least 14 days’ advance notice of the closedown.
If you decide that you want to close your business but you have not customarily closed down before and do not have any relevant clause in your employment agreements, you can still implement a closedown. But you must first consult with your staff about the proposal and then give them at least 14 days’ notice if the decision is made to close for the days in question. The sooner this is done the better to enable employees to plan ahead.
What are employees’ public holiday entitlements?
The principle is that employees are entitled to a paid day off on a public holiday if it would otherwise be a working day. Over Christmas and New Year the public holiday entitlements are: 25 December, Christmas Day; 26 December, Boxing Day; 1 January, New Year’s Day; 2 January, the day after New Year’s Day.
This year the public holidays fall on a Thursday and a Friday. So if an employee normally works on these days, he or she would be entitled to them as a public holiday, but if they do not normally work on these days, they would not be entitled to anything. An employee is not entitled to more than four public holidays over the Christmas and New Year period, regardless of their work pattern.
If a public holiday falls during the closedown period as is bound to happen over the Christmas and New Year period, the employee is entitled to paid public holidays if they would otherwise be working days for them, regardless of how much paid annual leave they have accrued. If they are asked to attend work on any of these days they would be entitled to be paid time and a half for any hours worked and they would also get an additional day off in lieu. This would be a full day off in lieu irrespective of how many hours they had to work.
What about sick leave over the period leading up to Christmas?
Employers often see a steep rise in sick leave during the festive season. Christmas parties at work and at home tempt staff into eating and drinking to excess. The result is that at this time of year, there always seems to be a lot of ‘food poisoning’ around. However, a hangover definitely does not count as genuine sick leave and you are within your legal rights to challenge someone who you think is abusing the entitlement to sick leave.
It can be a good idea to request staff to plan in advance and book a morning’s annual leave if they are planning a big night out, that way you won’t find yourself unexpectedly short-staffed.
If you believe someone is claiming sick leave when in fact they have a hangover, it is necessary in the first instance to speak to them and make clear that you believe they were not genuinely sick; that a hangover does not count as genuine sick leave; and that if they abuse their sick leave entitlement again, you will consider disciplinary action leading to a first written warning. It’s important that all staff realise you will not tolerate such behaviour.
Other top tips for small to medium businesses
1. Plan your payroll well in advance, as you may need to pay salaries earlier than usual because of public holidays.
2. Remember to inform your customers about your closedown plans over the holiday period and remember that many other businesses will be closed over the festive season, so it’s important to cater in advance for cash flow, banking, website administration and stocks.
3. Don’t forget your own needs and be sure to take a break to re-charge your batteries. Your family, friends and loved ones will be looking forward to spending quality time with you. Enjoy the holiday season and return to work refreshed and rejuvenated!