As the holiday season approaches, many employers are bracing for busy schedules and premium pay for holiday work. A recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey revealed that while premium pay on holidays is a popular option for employers, letting workers swap holidays is not.
More than half (57 percent) of HR professionals surveyed said their companies pay a premium for employees working on a holiday. Of these companies, 40 percent paid double and 21 percent pay time and a half. The rest had an incentive of some other kind of premium. These “other” kinds of premiums included comp days, leaving early on regular work days, gift cards, or free food.
However, some professionals may be surprised to learn that holiday swapping is not a common practice. Holiday swapping is an arrangement that allows employees to work on a day that is usually covered by time off (Christmas, Thanksgiving) and instead that that day in exchange for a holiday such as Yom Kippur. In fact, 82 percent of employers said they did not allow this practice.
The Most Common Covered Holidays
The most common covered holidays included the following:
- New Year’s Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
We were surprised to see that Christmas Eve is missing from the list. Does your company include Christmas Eve in paid holiday time? Let us know and join the conversation on Twitter!