Holiday Guide
LAST UPDATE: 09.02.23
How to design a supportive holiday policy that balances individual with collective needs
By People Support Coop & RadHR
Summary
We all need breaks from work to rest and recharge, but how do we design a holiday system with flexibility and accountability? This guide covers what you need to know about holiday policies.
Practical suggestions to design supportive holiday policies and procedures that encourages collective accountability.
Section 1:
What does the law say?
The laws you need to be aware of when creating a holiday policy, including working time regulations and statutory annual leave entitlement.
Section 2:
What’s wrong with standard holiday policies?
How holiday policies can be punitive and reinforce a culture of overworking. Plus, how to build mutual understanding and a system of shared responsibility.
Section 3:
How can we do things differently?
Embedding shared values, work-life balance and going beyond legal minimums.
Section 4:
What should go into our policy?
How do we make it fair to everyone? We provide practical suggestions for creating a system that actively encourages and enables everyone to take time off.
- Holiday entitlement: How to calculate holiday entitlement and what to do about bank holidays.
- Booking leave: How to create procedures that meet individual and collective needs.
- Holiday pay: What about overtime or people with variable hours?
- Untaken leave: What happens when someone is off sick or on family leave?
Authors
Discussion
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Discussion
Comment on our forum: community.radhr.org
Members
Wondering if anyone is aware of any holiday policies that let staff/members take as much leave as they want to (as is the case in a bunch of big corporate tech firms), but which don’t have an unspoken expectation for everyone to work more than they would in a job with standard annual leave entitlement?
In theory, letting people decide how much leave they need for themselves is a way to meet the needs of a range of workers with a range of different life circumstances, but too often, the practice seems to be that people just work more hours.
Keen to hear anything that suggests an alternative to this, and if there is anything that exists in the policy to support it, or if it’s that wider ambiguous question of ‘group culture’ that has enabled it to buck the trend.