Dentsu tells staff they don’t have to take Christmas as holiday

Dentsu has told its employees they can choose to work on four UK bank holidays that are associated with Christianity and then have alternative days off next year.

From 1 January 2022, dentsu will have a “flexible public bank holiday policy” in place to allow UK employees to work Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and then choose a different day off within the calendar year.

This idea was suggested by dentsu’s diversity and inclusion employee network, Represent, as not everyone’s beliefs are necessarily “aligned” with UK public holidays based on the Christian calendar.

This way Dentsu employees could pick days off that were “better-suited” to their religious or cultural values or beliefs or of “personal significance” to them rather than take annual leave on those days.

In a statement to employees, dentsu spokerperson said: “We are committed to create a culture where all our people can thrive, and the ultimate goal is to make it possible for everyone to celebrate who they really are.

“While we understand that requests to take time off as annual leave when something special is happening are usually accommodated, we want to further empower our people, make it fair, transparent, and easy so that everyone can celebrate what’s close to their hearts on equal terms.”