There is one problem with bank holidays – they always fall on a bank holiday. But not anymore. Cushman & Wakefield has launched a new policy, which will allow its UK staff to swap official bank holidays for alternative dates that have greater significance to them.
In the UK, public holidays have traditionally been religious affairs. Even the name makes that clear – holy days. And there used to be a lot more of them. In fact, there were 33 until 1834, when it was decided not enough work was being done.
For a dismal few decades just two dates were public holidays – Good Friday and Christmas Day, as even Ebenezer Scrooge was forced to acknowledge – “A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!”
Modern bank holidays date back to 1871, when banker, politician and keen archaeologist Sir John Lubbock (Baron Avebury) added four public holidays to the calendar. As a late Victorian gentleman he naturally opted for days that had cultural and religious significance to him and many of his peers – Easter Monday, Whit Monday, the first Monday in August and Boxing Day.
Now there are eight of them across the year, or nine if you are lucky enough to work in Scotland. But despite the secular name, bank holidays have always been the holy days of one particular faith. And in today’s diverse workplace that makes little sense.
This was a fact picked up on by Cushman’s Ilda Krekurti, who is the ethnicity and culture group lead at the firm’s DEI network, Inspire.
The idea was seized upon by managment. “The policy reflects the reality that UK bank holiday dates don’t always align with the times when some colleagues wish to observe or celebrate meaningful events,” says Steve Moore, head of HR for UK & Ireland. This was essential, he adds, “as we aspire to create a truly inclusive workplace”.
The simple innovation was to allow the dates to be moveable. Let staff decide which dates are important to them, not some long-dead aristocrat. Inspire proposed a holiday swap, where individuals will be allowed to formally substitute two of the traditional bank holidays for alternative dates of greater cultural or religious significance for them, whether that is Yom Kippur, Eid al-Adha, Paryushana or Samhain. The change was approved and will now form part of the firm’s annual leave entitlement from 2023.
It may seem a token gesture, but the message it sends is vital. “It is a simple but important step,” says Moore. “We believe it is important to give a formal entitlement, which moves us forward from informal arrangements through line managers.”
As Krekurti says: “This is a really exciting change that recognises we have a diverse team who don’t all celebrate the same thing. I’m proud the firm has been forward thinking in making it happen.”
The challenge has now been laid down for the rest of the industry, adds Moore. “We hope to see this become commonplace across real estate firms and other employers in due course.”
To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews
