SHRM 2015 Holiday Schedule

SHRM Survey Findings: 2015 Holiday Schedules

November 10, 2014

In this survey, a floating holiday is defined as a holiday that provides an employee paid time off to

observe a holiday not observed by the organization. For example, employees receive a paid day off (in

addition to paid holidays or vacation days) to take when they wish, such as on their birthday or on

another holiday that is not a scheduled holiday for the organization.

2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014 2

Definitions

• Which 2015 holidays will most organizations observe by closing their offices? The 2015 holidays

that most organizations (94-97%) will observe are:

» New Year’s Day (Thursday, January 1)

» Memorial Day (Monday, May 25)

» Labor Day (Monday, September 7)

» Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26)

» Christmas Day (Friday, December 25)

• Which religious holidays in 2015 will most organizations observe? Overall, few organizations close

their offices on religious holidays, with the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: in 2015,

47% of organizations will be closed on Christmas Eve and 97% will be closed on Christmas Day.

The next most common religious holiday for which some organizations will be closed is Good

Friday (28%).

• Does your organization offer floating holidays (other than personal days and paid holidays) to

employees? Just over one-third (36%) of organizations reported offering “floating holidays” to

employees. Of those that do offer these holidays, 72% offer 1-2 floating holidays a year.


Key Findings

Percentage of Organizations Offering Paid Holidays to Employees


n = 490

Yes56%

No44%

Part-time employees

Yes98%

No2%

Full-time employees

n = 473

Number of Paid Holidays Organizations Offer Annually

(if this benefit is provided)


Note: Excludes floating holidays. Only respondents whose organizations offered paid holidays to the respective employee group were asked this

question. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.

2%

11% 11%

15% 15%

21%

12%

7%6%

8%

13%11%

13% 13%

22%

10%

6%5%

1-5 days 6 days 7 days 8 days 9 days 10 days 11 days 12 days 13+ days

Full-time employees(n = 481)

Part-time employees(n = 263)

On average, organizations that provide the benefit

offer 9 paid holidays to full- and part-time employees.

Floating Holidays


Note: n = 489. Excludes personal days and paid holidays.

Yes36%

No64%

Organizations offeringfloating holidays

43%

29%

14%

9%

5%

1 day

2 days

3 days

4 days

5+ days

Number of floating holidays offered to

full-time employees annually

n = 173

Organizations’ Operating Status on Weekends


n = 488

23%

9%

1%

67%

Open on Saturday and Sunday

Only open on Saturday

Only open on Sunday

Not open on weekends

One-third of organizations

(33%) are typically open

for business on at least

one weekend day.

2015 Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe: January - May


Note: n = 96-483. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. For

holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis includes only respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday.

2015 Holiday, January-May Closed Close Early Remain Open

New Year’s Day: Thursday, January 1 95% < 1% 4%

Day after New Year’s Day: Friday, January 2 16% 2% 82%

MLK Jr’s birthday: Monday, January 19 37% 0% 63%

President’s Day: Monday, February 16 35% 0% 65%

Ash Wednesday: Wednesday, February 18 0% < 1% 100%

Chinese & Vietnamese New Year: Thursday, February 19 0% 0% 100%

Good Friday: Friday, April 3 28% 5% 67%

Beginning of Passover: Saturday, April 4 3% 0% 97%

Easter Monday: Monday, April 6 5% < 1% 95%

Friday before Memorial Day: Friday, May 22 4% 12% 85%

Shavuot: Sunday, May 24 3% 0% 97%

Memorial Day: Monday, May 25 94% 1% 5%

2015 Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe: June - October




2015 Holiday, June-October Closed Close Early Remain Open

First day of Ramadan: Thursday, June 18 < 1% 0% 100%

Day before Independence Day: Friday, July 3 60% 8% 33%

Independence Day: Saturday, July 4 76% 1% 23%

Monday after Independence Day: Monday, July 6 6% < 1% 94%

Friday before Labor Day: Friday, September 4 1% 12% 87%

Labor Day: Monday, September 7 95% < 1% 5%

Rosh Hashanah: Monday, September 14 < 1% < 1% 99%

Yom Kippur: Wednesday, September 23 < 1% < 1% 100%

Eid al-Adha/Festival of Sacrifice: Thursday, September 24 0% < 1% 100%

Sukkot: Monday, September 28 0% < 1% 100%

Columbus Day: Monday, October 12 16% < 1% 84%

2015 Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe: November - December




2015 Holiday, November-December Closed Close Early Remain Open

Diwali: Wednesday, November 11 0% < 1% 100%

Veterans Day: Wednesday, November 11 20% 1% 79%

Day before Thanksgiving: Wednesday, November 25 6% 20% 74%

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26 97% 1% 2%

Day after Thanksgiving: Friday, November 27 76% 1% 23%

First day of Chanukah: Monday, December 7 0% < 1% 100%

Day before Christmas Eve: Wednesday, December 23 5% 7% 88%

Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24 47% 28% 25%

Christmas Day: Friday, December 25 97% 0% 3%

Day after Christmas: Saturday, December 26 26% 1% 73%

Week between Christmas and New Year’s Day 12% < 1% 87%

New Year’s Eve: Thursday, December 31 23% 26% 51%

2015 Federal Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe



holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis includes only respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday. * July

4, 2015 (the legal public holiday for Independence Day), falls on a Saturday; for most federal employees, Friday, July 3, will be treated as a holiday for

pay and leave purposes.

2015 Federal Holiday Closed Close Early Remain Open

New Year’s Day: Thursday, January 1 95% < 1% 4%

MLK Jr’s birthday: Monday, January 19 37% 0% 63%

President’s Day: Monday, February 16 35% 0% 65%

Memorial Day: Monday, May 25 94% 1% 5%

*Day before Independence Day: Friday, July 3 60% 8% 33%

Independence Day: Saturday, July 4 76% 1% 23%

Labor Day: Monday, September 7 95% < 1% 5%

Columbus Day: Monday, October 12 16% < 1% 84%

Veterans Day: Wednesday, November 11 20% 1% 79%

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26 97% 1% 2%


2015 Religious Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe



holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis only includes respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday.

2015 Religious Holiday Closed Close Early Remain Open

Ash Wednesday: Wednesday, February 18 0% < 1% 100%

Chinese & Vietnamese New Year: Thursday, February 19 0% 0% 100%

Good Friday: Friday, April 3 28% 5% 67%

Beginning of Passover: Saturday, April 4 3% 0% 97%

Easter Monday: Monday, April 6 5% < 1% 95%

Shavuot: Sunday, May 24 3% 0% 97%

First day of Ramadan: Thursday, June 18 < 1% 0% 100%

Rosh Hashanah: Monday, September 14 < 1% < 1% 99%

Yom Kippur: Wednesday, September 23 < 1% < 1% 100%

Eid al-Adha/Festival of Sacrifice: Thursday, September 24 0% < 1% 100%

Sukkot: Monday, September 28 0% < 1% 100%

Diwali: Wednesday, November 11 0% < 1% 100%

First day of Chanukah: Monday, December 7 0% < 1% 100%

Day before Christmas Eve: Wednesday, December 23 5% 7% 88%

Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24 47% 28% 25%


Day after Christmas: Saturday, December 26 26% 1% 73%

Looking Ahead: New Year’s Day 2016 (Friday, January 1, 2016)


Note: n = 470. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

94%

1%

5%

Offices closed

Offices close early

Offices remain open

Change in the Number of Paid Holidays Offered by Organizations


Note: Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

3%

92%

6%

2%

97%

2%

Decrease

Stay the same

Increase

2013 to 2014(n = 471)

2014 to 2015(n = 456)


Demographics

Demographics: Organization Industry


Note: n = 463. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Manufacturing 21%

Professional, scientific and technical services 17%

Health care and social assistance 14%

Finance and insurance 10%

Government agencies 10%

Educational services 8%

Information 5%

Retail trade 5%

Construction 4%

Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 4%

Transportation and warehousing 4%

Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)


Note: n = 463. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Wholesale trade 4%

Accommodation and food services 3%

Administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services 3%

Utilities 3%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%

Arts, entertainment and recreation 2%

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction 2%

Real estate and rental and leasing 2%

Personal and laundry services 1%

Repair and maintenance 1%

Other industry 8%

Demographics: Organization Sector


n = 464

45%

23%

19%

10%

3%

Privately owned for-profit

Publicly owned for-profit

Nonprofit

Government

Other

Demographics: Organization Staff Size


Note: n = 454. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

27%

33%

17%

19%

5%

1 to 99 employees

100 to 499 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

25,000 or more employees

n = 473

Demographics: Other


Note: Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.

U.S.-based operations only 72%

Multinational operations 28%

Single-unit organization: An organization in

which the location and the organization are

one and the same.

30%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that

has more than one location.70%

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR

policies and practices58%

Each work location determines HR policies

and practices4%

A combination of both the work location and

the multi-unit headquarters determines HR

policies and practices

38%

Is your organization a single-unit organization or a

multi-unit organization?

For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices

determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work

location or by both?

Does your organization have U.S.-based

operations (business units) only, or does it

operate multinationally?

n = 475

n = 344

Corporate (companywide) 74%

Business unit/division 15%

Facility/location 12%

n = 346

What is the HR department/function for

which you responded for throughout this

survey?

21

SHRM Survey Findings: 2015 Holiday Schedules

• Response rate = 17%

• 492 HR professionals from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this

survey

• Margin of error +/-4%

• Survey fielded October 8-23, 2014

Survey Methodology

2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

• SHRM Survey Findings: Paid Leave in the Workplace

» http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/pages/paid-leave.aspx

• SHRM Customized Benchmarking Service: Paid Leave Metrics

» http://www.shrm.org/benchmarks

• SHRM HR Topics & Strategy: Benefits: Paid Time Off

» http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/pages/paidtimeoff.aspx

• SHRM/Kronos Total Financial Impact of Employee Absences in the U.S.

» http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Documents/Kronos_US_Executive_Summary

_Final.pdf


Additional SHRM Resources

http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/pages/paid-leave.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/benchmarks

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/pages/paidtimeoff.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Documents/Kronos_US_Executive_Summary_Final.pdf

For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveys

For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit

shrm.org/customizedresearch

Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research


About SHRM Research

Project lead:

Yan Dong, SHRM Research

Tanya Mulvey, researcher, SHRM Research

Project contributors:

Evren Esen, director, Survey Programs, SHRM Research

Copy editor:

Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center

http://www.shrm.org/surveys

http://www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research

Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the

world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management.

Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the

leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the

professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575

affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and

United Arab Emirates. Visit us at shrm.org.


About SHRM

http://www.shrm.org/