Here at MRA we recently conducted a Holiday Practices Survey to see what organizations are doing to help spread holiday cheer, and I wanted to share some tips from the survey data.
In a tight labor market, searching for an edge when it comes to hiring and retaining top talent these days is a strong focus. Holiday pay is one way to demonstrate your Employee Value Proposition (EVP).
To enhance EVP, employers are using holiday time off or “holiday pay” to attract and retain employees. Organizations are offering from 10 to 10.5 paid holidays, an increase of 4% from the previous year. Employers are also getting more creative with benefits such as floating holidays to use as personal days, offering between 0.5 to 2.5 days of floating holidays a year.
Companies unable to close over the holidays prefer to add holiday pay to compensate employees who are required to work on holidays, and for part-time employees, almost half (46%) of survey participants offer a day off with prorated pay for holidays.
I’m very happy to share that holiday parties are making a comeback! These celebrations have a long history of being an effective way to express appreciation to employees. Celebrating safely and responsibly remains a high priority.
The top five company-paid days or events to recognize employees for their work and increase engagement are:
- Appreciation lunches.
- Holiday or end-of-year party.
- Team-building events.
- Company picnic.
- Organized summer activity or event.
While no law requires an employer to pay employees for unworked time, it is a valuable benefit for employees. MRA recommends organizations create a policy that works for their culture and business practices. The policy needs to be specific about what is involved in the policy and what isn’t, as well as how holiday pay is calculated. Doing this can help mitigate additional questions and/or legal action.
MRA’s 2023 Holiday Practices Survey included 945 participating organizations from 2,697 regional locations across the United States.
Mitch Thomas is the new executive director for MRA’s Western Illinois & Iowa office, located at King Plaza Crown Center, 3800 Avenue of the Cities, Suite 100, Moline. He can be reached at Mitch.Thomas@mranet.org or (309) 277-4182.
