Millions of bosses are expected to award their workers with an additional holiday on Monday 24 December 2007.
Employers are not obliged to give Christmas Eve as a holiday – it falls on a working day and is not a bank holiday, yet predictors are expecting offices and workplaces to close in a sign of goodwill.
Peter Mooney, a spokesman for personnel software Employersafe, said: “A lot of people expect to have Christmas Eve off and many kind bosses give their staff paid leave, or at least let them work only half a day.
“However, Christmas Eve is not a bank holiday and this is really up to the discretion of individual managers. Judging by our clients it seems more bosses are giving their staff the day off this year. This appears to be because Christmas Eve is falling on a Monday.”
In October, new laws were introduced giving workers the right to at least 24 days holiday a year. This will increase to 28 days from 1 April 2009.
