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Organizations offer various versions of paid time off (PTO) to their employees—sick time, vacation, holidays, sabbaticals, parental leave, and floating holidays. As organizations focus on attracting and retaining top talent, updating or creating a solid holiday pay plan is one way to demonstrate your employee value proposition (EVP) to future and current employees. While there is no law that requires an employer to pay employees for unworked holiday time, it is a valuable benefit for employees in all positions and industries.
Holiday time off, or holiday pay, is unique to each employer, with many factors going into determining the right fit for each organization. Paid time off benefits, including holidays, should be clearly outlined in the employee handbook. It is important to clarify which holidays will be observed, when the office will be closed, and whether employees will be paid. It is also suggested to include how missed days prior to and following the holiday will affect eligibility for pay on those designated days.
Holiday observances can be an effective way to help bolster employee engagement, especially in the changing landscape of recruitment and retention. Companies with an initiative to further diversity efforts may choose to host alternative, more inclusive, activities as a way to promote teamwork or share customs, traditions, and culture. These events can be a way to showcase the appreciation for culture to enhance the total rewards package.
Some organizations may need to consider another policy in their handbooks: inclement weather. Since inclement weather can be disruptive to businesses, creating and maintaining strong policies will outline the answers before the questions are asked and should provide structure for varying business scenarios (e.g., industry, size, and number of employees). Policies should also account for all business and employee locations, so multistate employers should consider including wording to address varying weather situations.
Each organization has unique constraints on navigating a holiday schedule, compensation, and observances for employees. It can be helpful for employers to know what other employers are planning so employees know how to prepare and plan for their own celebrations. The information in this survey summarizes what organizations are doing and how your organization compares.
MRA has a history of producing accurate and timely information to help member organizations understand the changes and trends that are occurring within HR. It is to be used for benchmarking, according to the organizations philosophy. Results of the questions that were surveyed are shown in tables on the pages following this summary. They include additional breakouts when enough clean, relevant data was present.
