Finally a holiday for the everyman

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Finally a holiday for the everyman

The first thing my friend does when he returns to work at the beginning of January every year is look at his calendar for the year. Trust me, he’s not planning nor organizing his work schedule in any way shape of form. He’s looking at holidays. Public holidays to be exact.

He knows how many days holiday he is entitled to from the company. It’s how the public holidays fall he is really interested in. His excitement is palpable when he lucks out and most of them fall on a weekday. Should they fall in such a way that he can then make a couple of long weekends – bonus.

In the Czech Republic the public holidays on 1st and 8th of May can potentially give you two banner long weekends. If they fall on a Friday or a Monday then you’re golden.

Public holidays are created for a variety of reasons – religious holidays, celebration of important event’s in a country’s history, the start of the New Year, in remembrance of the death of an important historical figure and so on. But the average guy in the office just sees most of them as a welcome day off.

 

Did you know that:

  •  Easter Monday in the United Kingdom was created by the Bank Holidays Act 1871 along with Whit Monday, the first Monday in August and Boxing Day?
  • on 3rd of October, Germans celebrate the Day of German Unity to commemorate the anniversary of German reunification in 1990?
  •  on 6th of January, Spaniards celebrate Epiphany, the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ?
  •  On 8th of March, Mongolians celebrate International Women’s Day, in recognition of women’s economic, political and social achievements?

Employees like public holidays because it is officially a holiday for everyone. OK, there are some exceptions, for example in service industries, but you get my drift.  A holiday usually gives you time away from the pressure of the office (although this is becoming more and more difficult in today’s technological world), relax, spend time with the family, and recharge your batteries.

I think we should add one more holiday. The holiday would be mandatory for everyone. So what’s the holiday I hear you ask? It’s called….. Creation Day! Yup, the day that you were born. The greatest day of your life. A day to celebrate you. You get the day off buddy. Yup, look. Says it right here in the ‘’ Employers and Employees blah blah blah Act 2015 section 7, para 2 re Creation Day! And I quote:

‘’You get the day off on your birthday. No questions asked. And if it’s on a Saturday or Sunday or on a public holiday you get to take it on another day. Any which way you look at it buddy, you get the day off. EOS. End of Story.’’

What a great idea, huh? Bingo! Just one way to make your employee feel a little bit special. I guarantee you that even those who don’t celebrate their birthday will be happy to spend the day out of the office. Just think about it. You walk into a bar at three in the afternoon, get a drink at the bar and the guy beside turns to you and says, ‘’Must be your birthday. Guess what. Me too!’’

There are many ways that companies try to increase employee satisfaction and motivation – pay rises, bonuses, flexible working hours, home office, team buildings and so on. But if you are a business owner, why not give your employees the day off on their birthday? And give them a small bonus too? Here you go buddy. Here’s 100 quid. Take it and enjoy your birthday.

You’ll always have the killjoys that bang on about how much it costs the economy blah blah blah. Maybe for once we shouldn’t listen to them. Just for once. Seriously, it’s your birthday. And it’s worth remembering that if you hadn’t been born, then the company wouldn’t have you as a valued employee…