Do you work between Christmas and New Year?

Click image for original credit

I ran across this foto earlier today while pondering my old habit of working during the Christmas/New Year holiday. It reminded me of the way things can be for some folks during those typically quiet days.

I worked for the federal government that provides annual leave (vacation time) by the hour, a given number of hours being accrued each bi-weekly pay period. The federal government's leave year usually ends at the end of the first pay period that falls into the new calendar year. They also have a cap on the number of vacation hours you can carry into the new leave year. If you have too many, you lose the excess.

The typical government employee wants to carry over as many hours of leave as possible into the new leave year for many reasons which I won't explore here. The basic behavior pattern is for the government employee to save much of their leave until the final pay period of the leave year and schedule days off around the holiday break; thus gaining maximum annual leave carryover. It also provides a leave cushion should emergency leave use be needed late in the year.

Typically little high-priority effort is scheduled during the holiday break, so it becomes a good time to go to work and have the flexibility to "do things you want to do". Some folks need some quiet time for completion of tasks while others just like to come to work to lay back and enjoy the peace and quiet.

I was the type that liked to work during the holidays for that very reason. Life was kind of laidback for a week. If an extended lunch was needed, it was easy to schedule. With flexible working hours a person could tune the day to fit their needs. Being in a laidback environment also allows folks more time to get acquainted with others in the work area.

While I truly enjoy retirement, I must admit that I do miss certain periods at work and the quiet holiday stretch is one of those.

JD, enjoying retirement here in the BToS

PS - I may have gotten into the holiday work habit when the kids were small and accompanied their mom and grandma on mall trips to shop and return 'stuff'. :-)