Dec. 23, 2024

This week, more than 40,000 employees within one business will take a week off covered by their company.

“It’s the entire company, globally,” said Lisa McElrath, communications manager for CNH Industrial, which includes Sioux Falls-based Raven Industries.

“Essentially from Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, we are closed for business, and it gives people time to rest, recharge and spend time with loved ones for the holiday season.”

Raven employees, about 600 in Sioux Falls, began enjoying the benefit in 2022 following their acquisition by the global company.

“It’s incredibly helpful,” McElrath said. “There’s not that weight that you feel sometimes when you’re off — you feel like you’re behind because things keep moving. Now everyone is at the same place, so that feels really good. That’s the one time I can say that it goes quiet.”

The number of businesses of all sizes essentially closing from Christmas through the end of the year appears to be increasing, at least slightly, with a number of those based locally and outside Sioux Falls adopting the benefit.

“But to be honest, it’s a pretty small number, at least from what I’ve seen,” said Dan Oakland, CEO of Alternative HR.

He works with a consulting company that has a “winter break” between Christmas and the new year because business slows down. The firm offers unlimited PTO, and the winter break is part of the overall leave program.

His firm also works with a Twin Cities medical clinic that closes between Christmas and the new year.

“They obviously plan ahead and just don’t schedule any appointments during that week and close the office,” Oakland said. “For them, it’s pretty routine but kind of costly because they are paying everyone regular pay for the week, from physicians to receptionists. I think they have a fairly generous PTO plan and count that week as part of their PTO.”

Another company that offers video and data analysis for sports teams closes for two weeks over the holidays each year.

“Part of their rationale, I believe, is that they work with a lot of colleges and universities, so the break time kind of coincides with that,” Oakland said. “But another part of their rationale is that they also have quite a few employees in Europe, and European countries tend to have much more generous leave laws than the U.S. This is their way of trying to achieve more equity between U.S. and overseas employees.”

For the team at Raven, the time off “was definitely very well received,” McElrath said, adding that it makes travel and unplugging more possible.

“It’s great for me, personally, because my daughter is 3 and our day care is open some of those days, so I take advantage of that to get some true personal time,” she said. “And we travel to see my husband’s family, so spending half the time during those days there is great.”

Child care also figured into Click Rain Inc.’s decision to close between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2. This is the third year of offering the benefit, and “people love it,” CEO Natalie Eisenberg said. “When we do employee surveys, it’s one of the things people really value.”

The marketing agency had noticed that its Lemonly graphic design clients nationwide increasingly were offering the benefit, and “we’re always looking for innovative ways to build on our culture and our people-centered approach,” Eisenberg said. “This is more the norm nationally, and we wanted to be one of the first to bring it to our market.”

The firm proactively communicates the schedule with clients and builds timelines around it, while keeping people somewhat on call in case of emergencies, Eisenberg said.

“But by and large, our people are really able to unplug,” she said. “For many of our team members who are parents, child care is always a topic during the holidays, and we know it’s difficult overall. So when kids are off school, parents can be with them, and it makes the holidays that much more special.”

At Sonifi Solutions, a tradition of taking additional time off between Christmas and the end of the year is approaching a decade.

The Sioux Falls-based company provides entertainment technology in hotels and health care settings and began offering the additional time off when new leadership looked to offer new ways to reward employees.

“We were going through a lot of change at the time, and this is one thing that really stuck around,” said Susan Sealey, senior director of human resources.

The company calls it “fixed PTO,” where Sonifi absorbs Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and in between employees use their paid time off together as a team. The company takes a similar approach on long holiday weekends such as Memorial Day and Labor Day, absorbing the Friday before, for instance.

“It allows you a chance to take time off because everybody is off, so you get to share that together,” said Krista Gellert, senior director of marketing.

The 660-person team includes about 300 in Sioux Falls. Some work alternate schedules or could be called in if customer needs arise as servicing is offered 24 hours a day.

“But most are off, and “when we talk to our new hires or we’re making offers, they’re excited to hear we have that week off and there’s no pressure as a new hire whether you can take the time off,” Sealy said.

“If someone is worried about the amount of PTO they have in their balance and want to work, as long as they work it out with their manager, they can work them. As long as you work with your manager, we have a flexible approach. We’re not going to force someone to take time off.”

Des Moines-based Confluence also has offered the benefit for about a decade, originally as an extra bonus for staff and a way to compel certain team members to take time off who were reluctant to do so, said Jon Jacobson, senior principal at the Sioux Falls office.

“You’re not fighting the battle of ‘I’m always too busy. I can’t find time to take off.’ The office is closed,” he said. “The amount of time we do does ebb and flow depending on the literal date of when the holidays fall.”

The landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm treats the extra time off as a bonus based on how the year has gone — not a guarantee, he said.

“We typically make that decision toward the middle to the end of October,” Jacobson said, adding that the company typically covers anywhere from two to five additional days off and also considers vacation balances remaining when it decides.

“We’ve made sure the principal or project manager is always reachable (for clients),” he said. “That’s gotten easier post-COVID as people are used to being accessible.”

Still, the company’s president tells employees “to make every attempt to disconnect,” Jacobson added. “Spend time with your family and friends, and enjoy the time off. We want you to come back recharged.”

Other companies, including food processing businesses and ethanol plants, use the last week of the year to stop production so that the maintenance team can clean or fix machines, said Oakland at Alternative HR.

Another business he knows of shuts down the last week of the year but requires employees to either use PTO or take the time unpaid.

“For an awful lot of organizations, it’s not practical to do a complete shutdown because of their type of business — they still need to take calls or make service calls, ship orders, etc.,” he said.

“Most, however, are very willing to work with their employees on time off because a lot of employees want time off over the holiday and a lot are scrambling to use PTO benefits before the year-end so they don’t lose them — not all companies allow carryover of PTO.”