How do you work / take time off in international teams during holidays? (Easter holiday struggle)
In most parts of the world, Easter is being celebrated right now, honestly, not really.
Today, I was invited to a weekly meeting despite the holiday.
I had forgotten one fact: Orthodox countries celebrate Easter a week later.
(and countries in the Far East simply don’t have this holiday at all.)
This is actually a broader topic, because every country celebrates holidays differently, and with many teams being international, some kind of synchronisation is necessary – the question is: how?
Do you organise holidays and days off individually based on each employee, or according to where the company is legally registered?
And it’s not just about working or not working, but also about compensation.
For example, in my country (Slovakia), if you’re a regular employee and work on a holiday or weekend, you get a specific percentage-based bonus according to the labour code, e.g.:
Night work – at least 25% extra per hour
Holiday work – 100% extra based on average wage, etc.
I understand that in startups, people often do everything anytime, sometimes even for free, just to succeed.
But how do formalised structures and international teams operate on a global level during holidays?
Replies
First and foremost, an incredibly powerful question. Personally, I've never thought of that, and I can guarantee you that not many will - unless you or someone else does something about it. I had a colleague a while back who was based in India. I was always wondering why they would miss roughly 32 days of the year, sacrificing pay and calling it a "mental health day," which turns out was - in lieu of this conversation - is the number of holidays in India.
So, I do not think the United States realizes that everything international is relevant, and we need to respect that. It transcends into the idea of the West being individualistic (about the self) and the East being collectivist (about the group). I have indeed seen many workers take these holidays off without pay, which I think is normal enough, but they should not be afraid to bring it up, and neither should any organization. What do you think could be done about this?
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@ryanwmcc1 honestly, I like freedom, and I would work anytime I feel like (the only condition is to deliver results)... but that puts you in a freelance role (which I am most of the time).
BTW, I swear that my colleague from Asia works like 6 months in a year :DDD I have never seen so many days off in my life than she takes :D
@busmark_w_nika It goes to show how every culture is different!
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@ryanwmcc1 yeah, and sometimes confusing and not equal. :D
The official holidays are part of the laws for each country. The employer is forced to follow the rules. If an international company has offices in another country, it must follow the rules, otherwise the government of the country will not be happy and additional sanctions might be applied.
I go in public holidays in my days country official holiday calendar, and you go in public holidays in yours. Working for international companies and partners for years. We don't have any problems with that. :)
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@stoyan_minchev I think that I should let those people know. They seem to work 365 days in a year no matter what :D
I think the biggest issue isn’t the holidays themselves, it’s visibility. A shared holiday calander + clear Slack status rules (OOO, limited hours, etc.) solves 80% of these problems.
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@nikita_jain18 yep, but how are those holidays counted in terms of compensation? I think it is an important part.
@busmark_w_nika Good point, usually compensation follows the employee’s local labor laws.
If they work on a holiday, they either get extra pay or time off later depending on company policy.