Public holiday glut continues to vex industry

The holiday happy month of April has come and gone, leaving lots of SA businesses shaken by loss of productivity due to staff adding justified leave-time to multiple weeks already shortened by public holidays falling on Fridays and/or Mondays. The now famous, extended-Easter vacation is a hoary old problem, according to Keith Brebnor, CEO of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), and one that has remained without resolution up to now. “Every time that the chamber tries to have the thing amended,” he said, “all that happens is….more holidays”, referring to the election day this year, for example, and a recent double holiday being instituted because two traditional public holidays fell on the same date. There’s also a matter of hesitancy for the JCCI in taking any sort of stronger stance on the issue, Brebnor added. “Some of our industry members lose,” he said, “and some gain. “In the latter category, tourism, catering, the leisure and the petroleum industries all benefit as more people holiday, and we cannot take a stance without taking their interests into account.” With this in mind, Brebnor added, the JCCI is looking to decide how to find a balanced answer to the problem of extendable holiday periods in the year. However, with traditional religious holidays also intervening, it makes it even less easy to solve. “It’s right across the religious spectrum,” he said, “with Christian, Moslem and Jewish religious days all falling within this same period of the year.” It was also hinted to FTW that Business Unity SA (Busa) had been considering the matter, although no official comment was made available to us. However, it is believed that Busa general policy on such an issue would also see it having to take a balanced view between the win-winners and the loselosers in the extended vac situation. Extrapolating on what appears to be Busa’s guidelines on the subject, two problems have to be recognised – those of industrial productivity and of labour interests. When staff shortages occur because of extended leave-taking, industry obviously suffers, while there is little doubt that employees need and enjoy leave, and both these interests have to be taken into account. But, apart from this necessary balancing act, FTW could gain no hint of any possible answer from the industry body.