Independent Financial Review on Public Holidays
March 28th, 2008 at 4:18 pm by David FarrarThe Independent Financial Review’s editorial this week, has endorsed the suggestion from Jim Donovan, which I blogged about, to abolish public holidays and give people an extra 10 day annual leave, allowing them to decide for say five of the days when they will take them. The editorial says:
Now, here’s a thought.
Jim Donovan, a blogger, proposes we do away with public holidays altogether.
There are 10 statutory holidays, and these 10 days would be added to worker’s annual leave entitlement – 20 days, in most cases.
At present, when employees want to take annual leave, it must be agreed in advance with their employer.
The new legislation would specify a certain number of days – Donovan suggests five – which the employee can nominate in advance, and which the employer is required to grant.
To prevent gaming behaviour, those days once nominated would have to be taken off, unless the employer agreed otherwise.
One advantage, says Donovan, is the economy, businesses and consumers would gain several trading days a year.
Another is employees would gain more days they could take off when it suited them, rather than when the calendar mandates they must. So families could organise reunions at a time when peak fares and holiday traffic were no hindrance.
Of course, there are issues.
Donovan points out there would have to be exemptions for essential services, but says he’d keep the list short.
In an economy made up of small businesses, some would have problems covering for key staff taking certain days off as by right.
Some might not be able to open at all. But there would be fewer of these days than are lost at present through mandatory closing.
And some will argue, as they do now, the spiritual significance of Easter and Christmas would be diminished if those days were simply trading days like any other.
But the force of this argument is dissipating as the population becomes more multicultural, and secular.
Those who celebrate Christmas as a religious day, or as a secular holiday, could simply specify it as one of their mandatory days off.
What’s more, as blogger David Farrar points out, Donovan’s regime would be far more friendly to adherents of religions other than Christianity. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc, would be able to specify their own religious holidays as mandatory days off.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Council of Trade Unions reacts to the idea. It presumably will embrace with open arms a concept that would deliver greater output and more freedom.
Great to see a business newspaper pick up a proposal from a blog. And it is a good proposal. Hopefully with a change in Government one could get some policy work done on whether one could implement such a change, and how.
Related posts:
- Constructive work on holidays
- Mondayising holidays
- Trotter on cafes on public holidays
- Views galore on Easter Trading
March 28th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
This is too silly for words.
Most businesses cant function if employees are having odd days here and there.
remember that most employees are employed by small businesses, who much prefer the system of fixed holidays and even fixed Xmas breaks.
Having worked in places where even xmas holidays are arranged so that only one person is gone over summer, means that with up to 20 days , many people with kids would have no chance of getting any of the school holidays off ( only a 6 weeks period)
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Terrible idea (IMHO). As I said on my post about Freedom to Shop:
Personally, the absolute best thing I like about public holidays is that the world slows down just for a moment. There’s something more calming and pleasurable about a day with the family when you know the work is not necessarily piling up in your absence.
At worst, if I need to work, then at least I’m catching up!
David – if you asked your staff if they *wanted* to work on public holidays, do you think they would (or do you perhaps know if they would?) say yes or no?
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
BTW: I know that in Australia, some shopping malls required ALL businesses to be open when the mall was open as part of their lease agreement. Some small businesses I talked to struggled with this, as it was really hard to get trained, trustable staff to be there the long hours as required by the mall owners. It became another “claytons choice” having to sign up to tough working conditions in exchange for the malls drawing power. There seems to be a reasonable turnover of boutique shops in that category, and businesses going under in this way hints at “economic freedom” that the owner might had a different opinion on with the benefit of hindsight.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
“the absolute best thing I like about public holidays is that the world slows down just for a moment.” – agreed.
And what about schools?
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Ghost
This is going to hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you but………………..I agree with you.
Having to orgainse a business around annual leave when all want the same days off is a bloody nightmare, it always results in somebody being pissed off.
These nasty 3.5 days that DPF despises so much are the one time of the year when you can relax without worrying what is happening at work.
Having said that I don’t think we have much to worry about, if I am right about the Nat’s then at least they will not ram through legislation that 80% of the public do not want, if I am wrong then they are nothing but Labour with bigger tax cuts.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Oh I have had quite a few complaints over the years because generally we do not work on public holidays. Generally no staffer is ever rostered on for a day against their will – in fact all our shifts are opt in (which has some logistical challenges) – so those working want to work those nights, and when they don’t have an opportunity to do so, they often complain.
I’m normally the happiest person on public holidays, as it means I am not working until 1 am.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I don’t read the IFR. I suppose if I were interested in finance, interest rates, banking and the like I might.
Reading the IFR’s views on public holidays (or holy days) I imagine is about as much use as reading it to get the latest racing form.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
It’s not April the 1st yet is it.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
So, let’s summarise.
GWW thinks it bad because he always thinks anything DPF says is bad without reading it. Oh, and he thinks that it would be hard for small business, and that workers wouldn’t be able to get the days they want off. Ignoring completely the actual suggestion, which was that the employee can nominate and the employer has no choice.
Zentiger thinks it is a bad idea because he thinks everyone else in NZ should think like him – no need for people to be different or to have personal choice.
Big bruv thinks it is a bad idea because running a business is difficult. Yes, it is. That is why it pays better than being an employee. And this suggestion would actually make it easier in many ways.
My view, most people would just nominate the existing stat holidays. No impact to them, no impact to their employer. Some employees who, for whatever reason, aren’t middle aged white christian males with 2.4 children, might want to nominate different days. And some employers might take advantage of that to open on days that they otherwise would have had to close. And some NZers who, for whatever reason, wanted to shop on those days, will do so. In short, those who like things they way they are can just keep doing what they are already doing. Those who want to do something different will not be legally permitted from exercising that choice. I’m buggered if I know what there is to complain about here.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
If it’s in law that the current public holidays can be taken off by all empoyess of a business regardless of a owner wanting to be open, then that should be OK. After all the empolyer can contract staff in for those days they want to be open if that’s the case with the current provisions. But if the employer and employee agree then they should be able to change 20 days to 30 days a year and can take then on other days specified when agreeded by the employer and employee.
Thois would cater for all people of all faiths and for those of us who have a particular sporting bent to follow their team in any sporting event on a particular day, i.e. watching the Grand Final and having the monday off to recover or St Pats day, etc.
Or the world cup.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Zentiger thinks it is a bad idea because he thinks everyone else in NZ should think like him – no need for people to be different or to have personal choice.
I’m not suggesting that I don’t expect people to be different, and that they shouldn’t have personal choice. What I was expressing was my personal opinion. It was your decision to assume I would then do my best to enforce my opinion on others. BTW: was that assumption made after reading my full post, or just a reaction to my opinion?
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
“..Some employees who, for whatever reason, aren’t middle aged white christian males with 2.4 children, might want to nominate different days. And some employers might take advantage of that to open on days that they otherwise would have had to close..”
Bloody good comment PaulL. How I long for the day when I don’t have to take a holiday when the unholy alliance of the socialists and the Christian fundimentalists tell me to.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Richard, did you get the memo where you have been given more leeway on when you take the 4 weeks annual leave?
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Does this mean that Christmas as we know it would cease to exist? Surely it would retreat back the the religious ‘holy day’ that it started out as?
Gee, what would our retailers think??!!
BTW, ZenTiger, I always think that our NZ shopping malls get a lot busier on public holidays. So for our poor retail staff there really is little benefit to having the public holiday fixed in the first place. Then, when you also realise that the hospitality industry works both at Easter and on Christmas Day, the amount of us who truly benefit from a fixed public holiday seems a lot smaller than first thought.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
This daft suggestion will not gain any traction outside of the blogosphere and political/business rags that 90% of Kiwis never read.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Are the Nats going to repeal the ridiculous requirement that people working on public holidays get paid time and a half plus get a days leave? That really is a problem for all kinds businesses and non-profit organisations.
Vote:March 28th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Anthony- If the requirement is a problem for all kinds of businesses – those “business people” don’t deserve to be in business.
If they are so incompetent as to not be able to factor the requirement into their budgeting and adjust their base annual wage/salary levels so as to contain their total costs and/or incorporate extra wages into their costing & pricing structure, they are not fit to be running any sort of enterprise.
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Still a stupid idea that will be a further cost on employers.
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 12:47 am
As an employee, this would suit me perfectly. 18 days annual leave and one three-day-weekend per month. What’s not to like?
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 8:14 am
This year has highligted the ‘Easter’ problem. I had wondered about whether Easter could be fixed, but it has occurred to me to get rid of Good Friday and Easter Monday as public holidays and add them to ‘annual leave’. I thought that Good Friday was ‘sacred’ only to learn last year that Good Firday is not a public holiday in Italy, if it is not one there, then why should it be in NZ. I mean to say, if the Pope cannot (or does not think it necessary) to lobby for Good Friday to be a public holiday in Italy, then the Catholic bishops in NZ have no ground to support the retention of Good Friday as a public holidyin NZ. Easter Monday has no significance for religious observance, so it need not be a public holiday. Presto, this would get rid of the movable Easter problem, and in particular avoid an early Easter muckng up school and university break schedules.
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Nice stir David!
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 10:19 am
What a load of utter garbage. I’ve got a better idea; lets completely destroy society’s sense of cohesion and have NO recognition that ANYTHING has any particular significance at all on any day of the year. We can all live in little independent bubbles doing completley our own thing and to hell with our employers and the wider community as a whole, because, as we all know, the ONLY important thing in life is the bloody ECONOMY, isn’t it?
Although I am an atheist, I have noticed with sadness in recent years that the terms ‘Good Friday’ and ‘Easter Sunday’ are hardly ever used to mark these days (although we are quite happy to have the holiday) and ‘Christmas Day’ and ‘Boxing Day’ seem to be going the same way. Now some silly dipshit comes up with the idea of not recognising any day at all as being a feast day (in the secular sense as well as the religious). This would just reinforce the self-centred ‘me-me’ mindset that recognises nothing as having any societal importance over and above the whims of the individual.
If this idea were to be taken up, it would simply increase the compartmentalisation, alienation and ultimately people’s sense of disconnection with the society that they are living in. This is one of the most stupid fucking ideas I have read on a blog for years.
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I think we should ban weekends. Let people lobby with their boss for the two days a week they are allowed off. It’s an outrage being forced not to work on a Saturday or a Sunday. I’m very jealous of those organisations which let their people work on those days. It’s also fantastic some people are lucky enough to have jobs where they are required to work all night. Fancy my boss walking in the door and saying “It’s 5pm. Piss off home. We don’t need trouble makers like you expecting to work at night.”
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 11:26 am
The whole suggestion is a daft one.
He talks about people being able to organise family re-unions without peak holiday traffic. How many people would seriously want all the public holidays to be abolished permanantly in order to be able to hold one family re-union with off-peak traffic flow?
We already have an extra week of annual leave in the Holiday’s act.
Let’s see this guy front up at Waitangi and tell everyone there that Waitangi Day is going to be abolished so they can organise their next family re-union without having to get through the Waitangi Day peak traffic.
Or Let’s see him front up at the next dawn ANZAC service and tell the people there that there will be no ANZAC holiday next year because he needs to nominate a different day for his family reunion and ANZAC Day creates too much traffic so he’s decided to abolish it.
Or Let’s see him front up at all the camping grounds around NZ on the 1st or 2nd of January and tell all the families enjoying the last of their break that they won’t have this Holiday next year because he’s flying back to London on the 2nd of Jan for a family reunion and he wants the roads clear of holiday traffic so he can get to the airport quickly.
The guy has no idea what Kiwi life is about, and he obviously doesn’t understand that outside the executive suites of the multinationals operating in NZ, most Kiwi’s care more about ANZAC Day, Waitangi Day, Easter, Christmas etc and having a couple of extra days of holiday at the start of January plus fair wages for workers, than they do about increasing the number of “trading days” in the economy.
Further there are 11 Stat. Days – not 10. And if this guy can’t get all his trading done in 354 days of a year, he’s not very well organized.
Vote:March 29th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Dave Mann
Nice post. I wouldn’t agree with the atheist bit but the rest of it is spot on!
Vote:April 1st, 2008 at 7:35 pm
In my opinion, it’s not a good idea to abolish the public holiday, although it’s good for the staffs to choose when to have the holidays. Firstly, there will be lack of staff to work if many people choose to take the holiday at the same time. Also, small companies will get troubles if the staffs plan to have a long holiday lasted for a few day. Secondly, the meaning and the atmosphere of these special days must be decreased. All public holiday such as Christmas and Easter have the special meaning in it, otherwise it won’t have that particular holiday. After the abolishment of public holiday, some are in holiday in that day while some still work in that day. It’s no longer like a special day and looks like a normal day only. Furthermore, as all people don’t have to work and go to school on the public holidays, so people can go out with friends and family in that day. If there are no public holidays, people can hardly take the same holidays and be together.
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