Flexible public holidays at TOPdesk
You read it right: at TOPdesk, since January 2023, we’ve been able to choose for ourselves which public holidays we want to take off. Why? Because by far not all of us celebrate the eight Dutch public holidays. This meant that for TOPdeskers Ruben and Galina, Easter Monday was just another working day. So when do they take time off and why? Read on to find out.
Tell me more
Why have we made public holidays flexible? I visited HR’s Anna Afoichini to ask her how this fringe benefit came about.
Anna: “In the world of HR, the four-day working week and unlimited holidays are hot topics. But, in our own survey, we found that TOPdeskers are satisfied with their work-life balance. We don’t necessarily need more days off. So, to develop our new terms of employment, we went back to basics. What do we really find important at TOPdesk? One of those things is having the room – and being encouraged – to do the things that make us happy.
“Thus, the idea of flexible public holidays suddenly sounds very logical. After all, no matter your beliefs, you like to celebrate or commemorate meaningful moments with friends and family. And why spend holiday leave on them when you can just as easily work on the public holidays that are not special to you?
“Colleagues who want to work on Boxing Day, King’s Day or Ascension Day can do so from home. For the time being, our headquarters will remain closed on the eight Dutch public holidays because we do not expect working on these days to become the norm. And for people who do celebrate the official national holidays: if these holidays fall on your part-time day or in the weekend, you now have an extra day off whenever you want. So take some time off on your birthday!”
From Passover...
Business Unit Manager Ruben Stokx-Vos celebrates Jewish holidays and sees a lot of opportunities for this thanks to the new employment terms.
Ruben: “In my Jewish family, we believe it’s very important to celebrate traditions together. Until now, I used to take days off for this. Because, of course, you need time to prepare a festive meal. Or you want to take it easy the next day. This year, I even spent three whole days celebrating Passover with friends and family.
“So I worked on Easter Monday, and Ascension Day too will be just another working day. I don’t celebrate Christian holidays; I’m happy to trade those days for Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, for example.
“It actually suits TOPdesk very well to let us choose which holidays we want to take off. This freedom is also reflected in hybrid working, the room there is to set up initiatives, and 10 to Grow, which gives us plenty of scope for personal development.”
It actually suits TOPdesk very well to let us choose which holidays we want to take off.
… to Orthodox Easter
Designer Galina Todorova was also working on Easter Monday. Together with her Bulgarian family, she celebrates Easter according to the Eastern Orthodox calendar.
Galina: “I travel to Bulgaria every year to celebrate traditional Easter with my family. Apart from Christmas, it’s our biggest religious holiday. On Saturday evening, we go to church and take along boiled eggs that we have painted together. At midnight, we smash the eggs against each other and whoever’s the last one left with an intact egg is the winner. On Sunday, the celebration continues with Easter lunch, where we usually eat lamb.
“I also celebrate Easter with my Dutch in-laws, but Easter Monday is a day like any other for me. So I really like the fact that I can swap that day and travel to Bulgaria to spend extra time with my family there.”
Want to choose the holidays you’ll celebrate? Join us at TOPdesk! It’s not our only great fringe benefit, read more here.
