Why we take so much time off for Christmas

One of the things I like best about our company is the flexibility we have in our schedule. Yes, I can take off in the middle of the day to get a haircut or take my dogs to the vet, but we’re also pretty generous with our holidays, especially for a smaller company.

Unlike other countries, paid holidays are not required in the United States. In fact, full-time employees in the US receive an average of 7.6 paid holidays per year. That’s 7.6 days! We usually take seven or eight days just at Christmas!

Why do we do that if it’s not government-mandated? Well, most (maybe all) of the benefits provided to our team members are not government-mandated. What the government tells you to do should be the absolute minimum. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want just to do the minimum for my team!

We work hard year-round, so we deserve time off, and one of our core values here is balance.

How balanced can you really be if you only took Christmas Day off, or even just a couple of days around the holidays?

Instead, we usually take off from just before Christmas until right after New Year’s Day. Obviously, that varies a bit depending on when those two holidays land.

We are dedicated to our clients’ success. In fact, some of us could be considered workaholics at times. So, for many of us, we’re still checking email and answering texts, just in case of an emergency. If someone’s website goes down on Christmas Day, they don’t want to wait until January 2nd to get it back online.

The point is, balance is important to us. Holidays are a great time to relax, get refreshed, and spend time with family. We want our team to have the flexibility to do that.