# Why not postpone the bank holiday?



## sharkattack (27 Apr 2020)

Is there any reason why the government don't just postpone the upcoming bank holiday if they are so worried about people moving about.  Maybe move it too later in the year?  Its not going to disrupt too many as people are not allowed to travel more that 2km from their home anyways and many places are shut anyways.


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## Purple (27 Apr 2020)

Employers are struggling enough without another paid days holidays being lumped in on top of everything else they have to cope with.


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## sharkattack (27 Apr 2020)

How would it cost employers more if it was postponed for say 3 or 4 months.  Employees are not getting an extra bank holiday.  Granted it might mess up payroll software that has been pre-configured with bank holidays.


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## Ceist Beag (27 Apr 2020)

Some of those of us lucky enough to still be in work are looking forward to an extra day off - even if it is just to get a bit of gardening done or have a lie in!


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## Leo (27 Apr 2020)

Lots of people are still working, huge numbers are working remotely, many in less than ideal conditions, and many of those need a day off more than ever!

Just the payroll issues alone would add a significant cost to companies already facing challenges, and that doesn't take account for the hours that it would require to scramble as such short notice to rearrange shifts and rotas to accommodate.


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## Lisboa (4 May 2020)

It was probably just too short notice to postpone this Bank Holiday. 
Today is also usually a Bank Holiday in the UK but that was postponed to this Friday 8th May - and that was postponed with almost 1 year's notice in advance.


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## Wahaay (4 May 2020)

Lisboa said:


> It was probably just too short notice to postpone this Bank Holiday.
> Today is also usually a Bank Holiday in the UK but that was postponed to this Friday 8th May - and that was postponed with almost 1 year's notice in advance.



Today's May Bank Holiday in the UK was re-scheduled to this Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Obviously the planned commemorations will not now go ahead and they've been re-scheduled for the weekend of the 15-16 August, to coincide with VJ Day, which commemorates the surrender of Imperial Japan during World War II. 
This Friday remains a public holiday for the reasons expressed above - there are still many people working as normal during the pandemic who are entitled to it.


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## joe sod (14 May 2020)

Maybe postpone the June bank holiday to September, Easter and may bank holidays were basically wasted anyway as nobody could go anywhere. It would give a badly needed boost to the hospitality sector as their would be large pent up demand.

All these people extolling the virtues of working from home need to be careful, if there is no 9-5 working day anymore, then why the need for weekends and bank holidays. They should really be clamouring to get back to the office as all the perks of office work will disappear with working from home, they could end up like glorified farmers unable to ever leave work behind.


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## Purple (14 May 2020)

joe sod said:


> Maybe postpone the June bank holiday to September, Easter and may bank holidays were basically wasted anyway as nobody could go anywhere. It would give a badly needed boost to the hospitality sector as their would be large pent up demand.


I'm still going to work and both me and my kids were glad of the bank holiday.


joe sod said:


> All these people extolling the virtues of working from home need to be careful, if there is no 9-5 working day anymore, then why the need for weekends and bank holidays. They should really be clamouring to get back to the office as all the perks of office work will disappear with working from home, they could end up like glorified farmers unable to ever leave work behind.


I agree. I'd hate to work from home.


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## Leo (14 May 2020)

joe sod said:


> All these people extolling the virtues of working from home need to be careful, if there is no 9-5 working day anymore,



There mightn't be a 9-5 anymore, but there's still the working time directive.

I was never a fan of working from home but this pandemic has forced me to adapt and create a proper working space in my home (not possible for many I know), so now the flexibility around time is working in my favour. I live closer than many to our office, cutting out the commute has given me an extra hour every day.

Our company is one of a growing number who are saying they will never go back to how it was before COVID-19, office space density will drop considerable and anyone who wants to will be able to work from home full time.

There are companies who will always look to exploit staff and make them work longer or harder, but in many of the industries where remote working is a possibility, there are lots of jobs out there, and remote working gives people the opportunity to work for companies they wouldn't have considered before due to commuting difficulties. Ireland's a small place, everyone will get to know about those companies who seek to exploit staff, those companies will rightly struggle to recruit as a result.


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## odyssey06 (14 May 2020)

Never mind postponing bank holiday, am gonna take off the first monday in July as annual leave as don't know what else I'll be doing with the hols.
Otherwise wfh all of July looks... long.


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## joe sod (14 May 2020)

Leo said:


> Our company is one of a growing number who are saying they will never go back to how it was before COVID-19, office space density will drop considerable and anyone who wants to will be able to work from home full time.



That's fair enough you obviously know whats ahead and you have an "in demand" skill. However there are a lot of low skill clerical jobs that were the classic "office jobs", these have bean forced to work from home due to the lockdown. One of the big benefits of these jobs was that they were in fact 9 to 5 with weekends off, you were not tied to shift work and 24 hour working. 
Many people might say "working from home is the future" etc without really understanding what it means and because it sounds like a cool thing to say, but they do not fully appreciate the benefits and perks of working in an office, that has been discounted. 
An other issue is that some people on paper now are working from home but they don't actually have much work today as many industries are closed, therefore they are not living in reality now.


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## Leo (14 May 2020)

joe sod said:


> One of the big benefits of these jobs was that they were in fact 9 to 5 with weekends off, you were not tied to shift work and 24 hour working.



Yeah, we'll have to wait and see how a lot of the aspects of those kinds of roles pan out. A lot of the low skill clerical stuff will likely end up back in the office as that kind of work is more efficient when centralised. Anything that was regimented to 9-5 will likely go back to that pretty quickly once workplaces open again and we arrive at whatever normal will be in 12 or however many months time. 

Lots of people will never like working from home, the more extroverted you are, the more likely you are to struggle in that environment. The company I work for say everyone will have a choice, but coming out of this with fewer desks and more people, it'll be interesting to see what the breakdown will look like among those happy to stay working from home and those who want to return to the office....and whether there will be enough space!


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## Purple (14 May 2020)

Leo said:


> Lots of people will never like working from home, the more extroverted you are, the more likely you are to struggle in that environment.


Or lazy, that's where I'd struggle; my natural laziness would come to the fore.


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## Leo (14 May 2020)

Purple said:


> Or lazy, that's where I'd struggle; my natural laziness would come to the fore.



Some lazy people do really effective work as the deadline approaches....this model might let them excel!


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## joe sod (14 May 2020)

But the technology companies like Facebook and Google prized city centre locations in the most salubrious districts above all else. They spent alot of money kitting these out with bean bags , gourmet chefs etc to instill their corporate culture into the workforce. Paradoxically those very technology companies could be the most resistant to working from home.


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## Purple (15 May 2020)

joe sod said:


> But the technology companies like Facebook and Google prized city centre locations in the most salubrious districts above all else. They spent alot of money kitting these out with bean bags , gourmet chefs etc to instill their corporate culture into the workforce. Paradoxically those very technology companies could be the most resistant to working from home.


The cost of those offices is significant. It will probably come down to the numbers in the end, as most of these things do.


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## Purple (15 May 2020)

Leo said:


> Some lazy people do really effective work as the deadline approaches....this model might let them excel!


I've always said that laziness, not necessity, is the mother of invention.


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