Working on Christmas sounds like a crime against humanity. Yet, it’s a reality for many Americans. Many people in the U.S. will have to work on Christmas Day, and it’s estimated that 9.2% of U.S. hourly workers will most likely clock in on December 25th.
This woman also had to work on Christmas Day, but she asked her coworker to switch. Her reasoning? She has children, and that makes her more entitled to days off during the holidays than her childless colleague. Because the coworker already had plans, they refused, but later started feeling pressure from other colleagues. So, they asked for advice online.
Two coworkers got into an argument about who works on Christmas Day
Image credits: Image-Source / Envato (not the actual photo)
One thought she had better reasons to ask for time off since she had kids and her coworker didn’t
Image credits: shotprime / Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ComprehensiveNose622
The younger generation is in favor of giving parents priority to ask for days off on holidays
The mom in this story isn’t the first person to think that parents should get priority when it comes to days off on Christmas and other holidays. Parents certainly don’t have it easy, but is it fair to ask people without children to work on holidays just because they don’t have kids?
People’s attitudes to that question differ according to their age. Younger generations are more inclined to think that parents do deserve to have the holidays off. Older folks, on the contrary, believe that having children shouldn’t give workers such work perks.
According to a 2023 poll, 67% of Gen Z were in favor of parents being given priority to have Christmas off. Boomers, on the other hand, disagreed: only 47% thought parents with younger children should be able to get time off during the holidays more easily. 33% of older respondents went as far as to say parents should be denied priority.
According to HR experts, parents and non-parents should have equal priority to not work on Christmas
However, there is no legal precedent for parents to have more rights to days off during Christmastime. In fact, HR experts say that such policies would be unfair to non-parent employees.
One expert, Richard Smith, told The Guardian that prioritizing parents on Christmas can backfire for companies. “The best tip is to be pretty neutral in policy and start from the position of a first-come, first-served basis. Then it seems reasonable to say to the latecomer that they can’t have the holiday because they did not ask first.”
Head of HR Advisory at HR Connect, Lirette Mill, agrees. “Always giving parents priority could cause unrest and reduce the morale of other employees who do not have children.” She notes that parents often take days off when children have time off from school, so colleagues can book their time off outside of such times.
While she agrees that there should be more family-friendly policies and legislation for parents in the workplace, all workers can do at the moment is think as far ahead as they can and book their days off first.
On the other hand, parents face significantly more stress during the holidays
Although that doesn’t give them the right to request time off over their non-parent colleagues, parents are stretched pretty thin during Christmastime as it is. Recent research shows that stress levels peak for working parents during the holiday season.
A 2025 poll, commissioned by early education and childcare provider Bright Horizons, 51% of parents with young children are burdened with guilt. They feel unable to properly juggle family time and seasonal responsibilities.
What’s more, women often bear the brunt of the stress. As a C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll reported in 2021, mothers feel twice as much stress as fathers do. 23% of moms report high levels of stress during the Christmas season, while only 12% of dads say the same.
At the same time, non-parents might be just as strained as parents. In a recent survey by Modern Health, holiday stress is too much for the majority of American workers. 40% have even considered quitting their jobs because of holiday burnout. So, it’s not easy for everybody.
Commenter sided with the coworker, urging them to complain about the mom to HR
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