Every December, many businesses across the UK and Ireland face the same challenge: how to manage staff holidays fairly and efficiently during the festive period. Christmas Day, Boxing Day/St. Stephen’s Day, and New Year’s Day all fall close together, creating a surge in holiday requests from employees eager to spend time with family.
Without proper planning, this can quickly lead to rota gaps, rising labour costs, and frustrated teams. For managers in retail, hospitality, and service industries, ensuring the right staffing levels during the busiest weeks of the year is critical for both sales and customer experience.
Bank holidays and the festive period
Bank holidays are some of the most difficult dates to plan around. Between Christmas, New Year’s Day, and the public holidays that follow, employers must balance fairness with operational demand.
Many businesses need to stay open – especially in hospitality or retail – but also want to give employees time off. Having a clear policy on holiday entitlement and public holidays helps employers manage expectations and maintain fairness across teams.
Using Blocked Dates for blackout days in your staff rota software makes it easy to mark out certain dates when annual leave cannot be booked, such as the festive rush around Christmas week. This gives advance notice to employees while helping employers plan schedules well ahead of time.
Holiday requests and annual leave
Holiday requests often pile up in December, with staff wanting to use their remaining annual leave before the financial year resets. Managers who wait too long to plan rotas can find themselves reacting to overlapping requests rather than managing proactively.
To stay ahead, publish rotas early and communicate your blocked dates policy in advance. This helps employees plan their rest days or holidays outside the busiest periods while keeping staffing levels consistent.
Bizimply’s Blocked Dates feature allows managers to:
- Identify high-demand dates like Christmas Eve, Boxing Day/St. Stephen’s Day, and New Year’s Day
- Prevent requests during these critical periods
- Keep scheduling fair and transparent across full-time and part-time employees
For guidance on how to delete a Time Off Record, please consult our help centre.
Holiday entitlement and payroll planning
Every employer in the UK and Ireland is legally required to provide paid holiday entitlement. For part-time employees, this is calculated based on hours worked, so tracking holiday days accurately is essential for fair scheduling and payroll management.
Using a system that integrates annual leave, payroll data, and scheduling ensures that staff receive correct holiday pay and that managers can track balances in real time.
For example, businesses in Northern Ireland may have slightly different public holiday schedules to those in England or Scotland. Blocked Dates can be set by location, allowing each branch to manage its own calendar while staying consistent at an organisational level.
Control wage costs during peak season
Unplanned absences and late scheduling decisions can drive up wage bills. By using data from previous years, such as sales trends or staffing demand, employers can identify which dates require full coverage and plan shifts accordingly.
When managers plan staffing ahead of the festive season, they can:
- Reduce unnecessary overtime
- Keep labour costs under control
- Ensure payroll remains accurate and predictable
Blocked Dates make it easy to ensure enough staff are available on-site without overspending, which helps control wage costs during high-demand periods like Christmas and New Year.
Staff rota software for better organisation
A reliable staff rota software system gives managers complete visibility of shifts, requests, and staffing levels. With features like Blocked Dates, it’s simple to prevent time-off requests for specific dates, publish rotas early, and communicate changes instantly. By managing holiday requests and scheduling in one system, employers can maintain fairness and consistency, track hours, and plan shifts that align with business demand. This kind of proactive organisation not only reduces admin time but also builds trust with staff, as everyone knows what to expect well in advance.
Managing part-time employees and fair scheduling
Part-time employees often have different working patterns and expectations around holidays. To maintain fairness, ensure all requests are handled consistently and that part-time staff receive the correct holiday entitlement and pay.
When the festive period approaches, communicate early about which dates are blocked and which remain open for requests. Giving early notice helps staff plan personal time around family commitments while ensuring full coverage during the busiest weeks of the year.
Take control of your scheduling this festive season
The festive season doesn’t have to bring staffing chaos. With Bizimply’s Blocked Dates, businesses can take control of annual leave, manage bank holiday requests, and keep wage costs predictable.
No more manual spreadsheets, inconsistent communication, or last-minute rota changes – just clear, fair, and data-driven scheduling that works for your whole team.
Try Blocked Dates today and make this festive season the smoothest one yet for your business.
