What holiday calendars is
A holiday calendar is the list of days on which an establishment is closed or employees are not required to work, together with any optional or restricted holidays employees may choose from.
Employers operating across states usually need more than one calendar, because public holidays differ by state, and national and festival holidays are set under state law for the establishments located there.
Why it matters
Holidays interact with almost every other time rule. Work on a holiday may earn compensatory off or overtime; a holiday between two leave days may be counted under the sandwich rule; and a holiday assigned to the wrong location changes an employee's payable days.
Common challenges
Different lists for different locations
A branch in one state and head office in another observe different holidays, and employees move between them.
Optional holidays
Restricted or optional holidays need a limit and a way of recording which ones each employee chose.
Late publication
A calendar published after the year has started leaves early leave decisions made against the wrong list.
The process, step by step
- 1
Publish before the year begins
Issue each location's calendar before the first holiday it contains.
- 2
Assign by location
Link each employee to the calendar for the place they work, and update it when they move.
- 3
Set the optional-holiday rule
How many may be taken and how they are chosen.
- 4
Connect to leave and attendance
Holidays feed the sandwich rule, comp-off and overtime calculations.
Best practices
- Keep one calendar per location rather than one company calendar with exceptions.
- Show employees their own calendar in the same place they apply for leave.
- Record optional-holiday choices as requests, like leave.
Mistakes to avoid
- Applying head office's calendar to every location.
- Publishing the calendar after the year has begun.
- Forgetting to move an employee to a new calendar when they transfer.
How software helps
Holiday software attaches the right calendar to each employee automatically, and makes that calendar an input to leave, attendance and overtime rules rather than a document people consult.
Questions about holiday calendars
No. National holidays are common, but festival and other holidays are set under state law, which is why employers across states usually maintain a calendar per location.
A holiday employees may choose to take from a published list, up to a set number in the year, rather than a day the whole establishment closes.
Depending on the law that applies and the employer's policy, it may earn compensatory off, overtime or holiday pay. The rule should be written into the policy rather than decided case by case.
Holidays decide payable days and feed into the sandwich rule, compensatory off and overtime. A holiday assigned to the wrong location changes an employee's pay.
Before the year begins, and before the first holiday it contains. A calendar published late leaves early leave decisions made against the wrong list.
Keeping one calendar per location is simpler than one company calendar with exceptions, because public holidays differ by state and each employee should be linked to the calendar for where they work.
They should be moved to the calendar of their new location. Forgetting to do so is a common mistake that affects both leave and pay.
As requests, in the same way as leave, with a set limit on how many can be taken. That keeps a record of which optional holidays each employee chose.