What is Floating Holiday and It’s Policies in the Workplace

Several organizations in the United States provide Floating Holidays. Many employers offer various types of leave, including Privilege Leave (PL), Earned Leave (EL), Annual Leave (AL), Casual Leave (CL), Sick Leave (SL), Maternity Leave (ML), Marriage Leave, Paternity Leave, Bereavement Leave, Optimal Holiday, Designated Holidays, and more, to promote work-life balance.

But do you know what a floating holiday is? 

You have heard the name but do you understand the importance and policy of a floating holiday?

Let's examine what floating holidays are and how they work in today's workplace. 

What are Floating Holidays?

Floating holidays are paid leave that is not applicable on the same day each year. Organizations offer floating holidays to employees to use as a substitute for a public holiday, giving them the freedom to pick which days they take off. It builds flexibility, an excellent work-life balance, and increases employee morale.

What is the Purpose of a Floating Holiday?

A floating holiday serves the different requirements and interests of employees, as well as paid time off employees. Many individuals use floating holidays to honor religious or cultural holidays, while others use them to celebrate special milestones such as birthdays and weddings. 

Several enterprises offer a list of cultural, religious, and government holidays and events for employees to select from. Employers may need to specify which days employees can and cannot use their floating vacations each year.

‍Are Floating Holidays Paid Time Off? 

Floating holidays are a flexible time off option that can make employees feel valued. Such holidays can be paid or unpaid, depending on business policy.

Such leave policies are beneficial to both business and talent—a simple method to keep the business open during the off-season. More crucially, companies recognize the employees' desire for time off on non-federal or state holidays that are significant in their cultures.

Not every firm provides floating holidays, so including them can help an organization stand out. When companies offer floating holidays, they instantly appeal more to potential employees. 

Benefits of Offering Floating Holidays

Floating holidays provide the following:

• Flexible work
• Enhance team morale
• Promote diversity and inclusion

Here's an in-depth exploration of the key benefits they offer:

• Floating holiday perks as part of an employment package can help the company attract and retain top talent.
  
  
• By allowing them to choose their days off, you demonstrate respect for their time and make it easier for them to plan appointments and other commitments at their convenience.
  
  
• Offering a floating holiday improves work/life balance, leading to increased productivity and reduced burnout. 
  
  
• Potential job seekers find them attractive, as they perceive it to be a sign of flexibility and a positive work/life balance at the organization. 
  
  
• Including floating holidays in the job description is recommended, and mentioning them during the interview process is also beneficial for attracting top-notch talent. 
  
  
• Floating holidays embrace a wide range of cultures and religions. 
  
  
• Floating holidays allow individuals from multiple backgrounds to feel respected and let them celebrate religious or cultural events.
  
  
• Numerous businesses in the United States respect spiritual and national holidays, but some employees may like to take a day off for other significant events relating to their faith or culture—without using their vacation time.
  
  
• Floating holidays might be a game changer for the business by allowing it to remain open on public holidays.
  
  
• Individuals may opt to work instead of celebrating holidays such as Christmas or Thanksgiving because of their beliefs or a desire not to travel.
  
  
• These dedicated individuals can keep things running while the rest of the team takes time off.
  
  
• Both the employer and employee can benefit from this arrangement. It allows businesses to stay open during public holidays if needed while also giving employees flexibility in choosing their days off. 
  
  
• Employees are allowed to preserve more PTO for vacation, sick days, or other personal needs. Saved leaves enable them to address unforeseen circumstances, such as individual needs or family matters, with minimal prior notice. 
  
  
• With floating holidays, employees can extend their vacation or take a longer break after regularly scheduled holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving.
  
  
• Employees can use a floating holiday to compensate for times when they must work on a standard holiday. It is beneficial when strict deadlines or rigid schedules prevent employees from taking the day off. 
  
  
• In companies where working on holidays is required, the benefit of a floating holiday allows employees to choose another day and take it off instead.

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Now you understand why it is essential for the organization to offer floating holidays to their employees—and what floating holidays are! 

While you are not obligated to provide a floating holiday under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), offering flexible options can make the team feel valued and allow them to save their PTO for other personal needs such as vacation, sick days, or any other matters.

Note: Read What is FLSA and How Does it Impact Your Workplace?

What are the Disadvantages of Offering Floating Holidays?

Process inconsistency can have an unfavorable effect. For instance, in the example above of the manufacturing plant, you may need to request frontline employees to stagger any floating holidays they take after a company-observed holiday so that someone from the team is always onsite.

If you decide to offer floating holidays, you'll have to figure out how to be fair and still take care of business. The frontline employee who ends up having to work the day after Thanksgiving or on Christmas evening could perceive it as unfair, although it makes sense for the business.

Organizations may get stuck paying an employee for unused floating holidays - if you don't designate specific dates for them to be used.

How to Develop a Floating Holiday Policy

The key to developing a successful floating holiday policy is setting clear expectations. Ensure that the employees should be well-versed with the company's policies before you implement them. Outline policy guidelines clearly and encourage employees to take advantage of their time off.

It is suggested to plan a Q&A session about the policy and provide workers with a contact person to answer their questions. Workers should feel empowered to take days off.

By failing to set the right expectations, employees may feel afraid to request time off or forget to use their floating holidays altogether.

Since every team has different needs, businesses must create a floating holiday policy explicitly tailored for every team. But don't worry; there are some common steps that any employer or HR manager can follow to build a successful floating holiday policy.

A five-step process for developing a floating holiday policy:

1. Plan your paid vacation time. Figure out the days when the office will be shut down, and everyone can enjoy some well-deserved time off.
   
   
2. The company will select several floating holidays and determine how many it will offer. Employees should remember that these are paid days off when the office is open.
   
   
3. The global HR management team sets floating holiday parameters. The management team determines which days can be used as floating holidays and whether they can roll over to the following year.
   
   
4. Organizations should create and distribute their time-off policy. It would help if you also made a PTO memo that clearly defines holiday time, floating holiday time, vacation time, and sick time. The memo should explain how employees will request the different types of PTO. Add this policy to your employee handbook, and give the resource to all employees.
   
   
5. Set up different pay codes. A floating holiday may be full or partial pay.

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