If there is one thing that unites all workers around the world it’s the joy of a public holiday!

Everybody Loves A Public Holiday!

Most countries in the world have public holidays. The days themselves vary, but in many countries, workers can enjoy several extra days off throughout the year.
India and Columbia top the billing, both having 18 public holidays a year. Mexico has one of the lowest, with just 7.

Luckily, the latest updates of My Shift Planner include built in public holidays for a wide range of countries. We will be adding more in the future, as well.

It doesn’t matter what you use the public holiday for. It might be extra family time, a chance to do some much needed housework or decorating. You might want to get out with friends to socialise, or just take the opportunity to relax, catch up with a box-set or much needed sleep. Whatever you do with it, the public holiday unites us all – we just love ’em!

For shift workers, though, the story can be bit different.

Working Through The Holiday

Public holidays may be enshrined in most country’s law. But many shift workers find themselves working across multiple national holidays in the year. As a result, shift workers find themselves torn when a public holiday is coming up. Everyone else is looking forward to the break, but for shift workers, the job carries on regardless, whether it’s a public holiday or not. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re working in the media, production line, retail, or as a first responder. All shift workers are united by the fact that public holidays seem to just pass them by.

What are the rights of shift workers?

For most shift workers, any rights they have regarding public holidays are dependent on the terms and conditions of their contract of work.

Different countries have different laws governing their public holidays. But most workers don’t have an automatic right to take a public holiday as time off.

Where there is no written statement, or written contract of employment, the rights relating to public holidays often depend either on what has been verbally agreed or on custom and practice.

When it comes to extra pay, for working on a public holiday, any rights depend, once again, on the terms of the contract of employment. Some employers might give time-and-a-half or double pay as a custom or practice. But unless the country law stipulates it, they are not obliged to offer it in their contract of employment.

As for religious holidays, laws do differ, but for many countries, if you are required to work on a public holidays under the terms of your employment contract, then you cannot refuse to work, even for religious reasons.

How can you make sure you get what you are entitled to?

The best advice for understanding your rights as a shift worker, is always to refer to your contract of employment. This should be something you review regularly with your managers or HR team. If you think you are being refused your rights under your contract, then a union rep or an employment lawyer will be able to clarify your position.

Everything is dependent on your contract of employment, so the general advice to all workers is to make sure you understand this fully and all its implications.

Public Holidays Aren’t All Great!

Although it may seem as though you’re missing out, for many plenty of shift workers, not having public holiday’s isn’t all bad.

Many shift workers love the fact that they have time off when everyone else is working. Although shift workers don’t get public holidays they also don’t have to deal with everything that comes with them!


After all, who needs, traffic snarl ups, visitor attractions and public spaces rammed with fraught parents and fractious kids, closed shops and busy food outlets. And all the pressure to “make the most of the day”

It’s just a huge family bust-up waiting to happen!

Shift Workers Can Have the Last Laugh

Shift workers, on the other hand can do all those things when everyone else is slogging in the office. This is even more satisfying on those sunny days that always seem to come before and after public holidays, but rarely land on them!

 

Plan using My Shift Planner

For shift workers to make the most of a public holiday, planning is everything!  Keeping track of your working pattern, tracking your annual leave and vacation time, and planning well in advance all make the difference. Organizing your shift pattern early will ensure that any issues about time off are dealt with in advance.  
MyShiftPlanner is specifically designed and updated to help shift workers do exactly this.

Using My Shift Planner’s inbuilt tools, you to see when you are next off, when your next weekend off will be, how many days you have remaining each year, how many you’ve taken and a full list of all days you have left to take.

In our Pro-Pack, you can make use of a great collaboration features, which will allow your partner/colleague/family access to see your MyShiftPlanner calendar. It also gives the perfect tool for checking for common days off (to plan a break) and make sure you make most of the days you do have off, whether they are public holidays or not.

 

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