Taking holidays off: Is it a viable option for employers?

Almost every employee would want to take a break during the festive season, and public holidays in general. Some employers make provision for holidays for their employees by taking a break. Although everyone deserves to have a holiday off, for some, this might not be possible.

Small businesses
Economist and independent researcher Richard Ssempala, notes that depending on the type of company, most firms in Uganda are small or rather medium enterprises employing between five to 49 people with assets not exceeding Shs100m, which creates no room for taking long holidays.
“In fact most of the firms target the festive season to break even and therefore they would rather keep their employees around to serve their clientele.”
Ssempala adds that holiday time is a strange idea in a struggling economy like Uganda but he insists that employers who keep workers during holidays should remunerate them well.

Compensation
Ssempala says there are companies, which give bonuses to employees who choose to work on holidays and for income-focused individuals, it offers an opportunity to earn extra pay.
Brenda Basiime, a human resource expert, explains that jobs that offer holidays are mostly in civil service and the corporate sector.
Basiime adds that some companies in the private sector and some civil service organisations with few workers, do not let their employees take public holidays offs.

Career selection
She says there is a growing culture of holidays in Uganda, and advises that when one who loves to take public holidays off is seeking employment, they should do background check then narrow down their choices to organisations and jobs that give room for taking public holidays off.

Understaffing
Immaculate Tuhaise, a project management expert, says some companies, especially those in the private sector, are too understaffed to give room for employees who wish to take public holidays off, to have the break .
She, however, adds that some companies make more profits during holiday seasons than any other time so letting employees take public holidays off is not viable.
“A company dealing in hospitality will have more clientele during holidays. It’s quite obvious that a hotel will simply deny workers holiday offs, the same goes for supermarkest or shopping malls,” she adds.

Ranking in organisation
Tuhaise says for some organisations, holiday offs are a benefit that comes with position.
She adds that some people forget to negotiate such terms at interview level, which makes it had for them to be granted such benefits when time clocks holiday.
If one works for a company that does not guarantee public holiday offs, they could plan their annual leave around public holidays.

What the law says

“54. Annual leave and public holidays
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section—
(a) an employee shall, once in very calendar year, be entitled to a holiday with full pay at the rate of seven days in respect of each period of a continuous four months’ service, to be taken at such time during such calendar year as may be agreed between the parties; and
(b) an employee shall be entitled to a day’s holiday with full pay on every
public holiday during his or her employment or, where he or she works for his or her employer on a public holiday, to a day’s holiday with full pay at the expense of the employer on some other day that would otherwise be a day of work.

(2) Where an employee who works on a public holiday receives, in respect of such work, pay at not less than double the rate payable for work on a day that is not a public holiday, that employee shall not be entitled to a day’s holiday with full pay in lieu of the public holiday.

(3) Subject to subsection (2), any agreement to relinquish the right to the minimum annual holiday as prescribed in this section, or to forgo such a holiday, for compensation or otherwise, shall be null and void.

(4) This section shall apply only to employees—
(a) who have performed continuous service for their employer for a minimum period of six months;
(b) who normally work under a contract of service for sixteen hours a week or more.

(5) An employee is entitled to receive, upon termination of employment, a holiday with pay proportionate to the length of service for which he or she has not received such a holiday, or compensation in lieu of the holiday.”
Employment Act 2016