Benchmarking Christmas and New Year working arrangements 2010/2011
 |
Employment law considerations often take a back seat when employers plan their Christmas and New Year working arrangements, latest XpertHR Benchmarking research reveals. The XpertHR Benchmarking survey of Christmas and New Year working arrangements - conducted in October 2010 - is based on responses from 111 organisations. Subscribers to XpertHR Benchmarking can drill down into the complete benchmarking data from the survey. |
The XpertHR survey finds that a majority of organisations are failing to put behaviour policies in place for seasonal celebrations. And still more employers are not acting in accordance with legislation to prevent religious discrimination:
- Nearly nine in 10 respondents say they do not make formal provision for those who do not celebrate Christmas to opt out of celebrations.
- Three-quarters do not make provision for members of faiths other than Christianity to mark special religious festivals.
Other key findings on workplace Christmas celebrations include the following:
- The most common way to celebrate Christmas at work is the company-wide party, followed by departmental lunches and departmental parties.
- Christmas-related spending (such as on parties, lunches, gifts and bonuses) is down when compared with last year.
- Although the majority of work Christmas celebrations pass without incident, 7% of employers say problems did arise at their last work Christmas party or meal, indicating the need for a behaviour policy.
Other key findings on workplace Christmas celebrations include the following:
- More than one-third (38.7%) of respondents require some employees to be available for call-out over the Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays.
- A further three in 10 (30.6%) require some staff to be on standby over this period.
The unique interactive features of XpertHR Benchmarking can be applied to each question from this survey, to create bespoke reports that you can download and use.
Michael Carty, benchmarking editor
