Yes. As the employer you decide when annual leave is taken, and that includes over Christmas. The conditions: talk to the employee at least one month before the leave starts, and take their family responsibilities and their chance to rest into account. Christmas Day, St Stephen's Day and New Year's Day don't come out of annual leave at all - only the normal working days you're closed.
Why it's completely normal
Most small businesses that close for Christmas do it and most staff pretty much expect it. If you shut between Christmas and New Year the days have to come from somewhere and annual leave is the obvious place. It isn't sneaky and it isn't unusual.
Where it goes wrong is the surprise. Tell someone in mid December that three of their last few days are now spoken for and you'll get grumbling - fair enough, really - and you'll have missed the one-month rule too. Tell them in October and it's just part of the plan.
We've had people realise in December that they'd used more leave earlier in the year than they thought, and didn't have enough left for the days we were closed. Not fun for anyone. The fix wasn't a stricter rule, it was just telling everyone early how many days to keep back so it didn't come as a surprise.
How much notice do I need to give?
At least a month. The law says you have to consult the employee (or their union, if they have one) no later than one month before the leave starts. So for a closure from Christmas Eve, you'd want to have had that conversation by late November at the very latest.
We'd go earlier than that. Put it in your first Christmas email in October - which days you're closing, which come out of annual leave and how many days that is - and invite anyone with a problem to come and talk to you. That way it's genuinely a consultation, not a notice pinned on the wall, and people can plan the rest of their leave around it.
The other part of the rule is that you have to take into account their family responsibilities and their opportunities for rest. For a Christmas closure that's rarely a problem - most people want the time off anyway. It matters more when you're telling one person to take leave on dates that don't suit them.
Can I make staff keep annual leave back for Christmas?
Yes, more or less - you do it by telling them early which days they'll need to take. Once you've said 29 to 31 December come out of annual leave, those days are spoken for. Some businesses put it in the contract or handbook ("keep three days back for the Christmas closure") so it's clear from the day someone starts.
If you haven't got it written down anywhere, just say it plainly in your October email. Something like "We're closed 29 to 31 December and those days come out of your annual leave, so keep three back." Job done. There's a ready-made version in our Christmas email to staff templates.
In Book Time Off you can see everyone's days used and days left at a glance, so you spot the person who won't have enough for the Christmas closure in October rather than on 20 December. Book the closure for everyone in one go and their balances update straight away. It won't stop someone using all their days in August, but at least you'll see it coming.
→ Start free trialWhat if someone's run out of annual leave?
You've basically got three options - let them take some of next year's leave early, agree some unpaid leave or just pay for the days. Pick one and do it for everyone. It crops up most with new starters, who'll only have built up a bit of leave by December.
Taking next year's leave early is what most people do - they just start the new leave year a few days down. Write it down somewhere, or someone will forget (probably you). Unpaid is fine if they're genuinely happy with it, but you can't just impose it. And honestly, for one new starter and two or three days, just paying it is often the simplest and kindest thing.
Whichever you go for, be consistent. In our experience it's never the rule that upsets people - it's finding out a colleague got a better deal.
Can I make staff take unpaid leave at Christmas?
Only if their contract allows it or they agree to it. You can ask staff to use their paid annual leave for a closure, but you can't just stop paying them because you've decided to shut - that's likely to be an unlawful deduction from their wages. If you think you might want an unpaid Christmas closure some year, get it into contracts now rather than in December.
Do the Christmas public holidays come out of annual leave?
No, and this is worth being clear about with your team. In Ireland the 10 public holidays are completely separate from the four weeks of annual leave. Christmas Day and New Year's Day just get the public holiday treatment, and so does St Stephen's Day - even though it's on a Saturday this year and doesn't move to the Monday. You'll need to decide what staff get for that one: a paid day off within a month, an extra day of annual leave or an extra day's pay. A lot of employers give Monday 28 December, which also means one less day of annual leave for the closure.
All the dates are in Christmas bank holidays Ireland 2026.
Book Time Off has Ireland's public holidays built in and never takes them off anyone's allowance - so when you book the Christmas closure, only the actual working days come off. Honest note: it won't decide the St Stephen's Day benefit for you, but if you give Monday the 28th off you can book it for the whole team in one group booking.
→ Start free trialWhat if someone's sick during the closure?
If they're sick and they've got a medical cert, those days don't count as annual leave - they keep them to use another time. So if someone's laid up with a flu for the whole of Christmas week and they get a cert, you'll need to give them those days back. Annoying, but fair enough when you think about it.
If you want the whole Christmas plan in one place, we've put it together in how to manage Christmas annual leave.
The legal bit, if you need it
You don't need this to get Christmas sorted, but here's what the rules actually say if anyone asks.
- The employer decides when annual leave is taken, having regard to work requirements, and must take into account the employee's family responsibilities and opportunities for rest and recreation (Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, s.20).
- The employer must consult the employee or their union at least one month before the leave starts (s.20, Citizens Information).
- The statutory minimum is four working weeks of annual leave a year, and public holidays are separate from it (Citizens Information).
- Certified sick days during annual leave don't count as annual leave (Citizens Information).
- Deductions from pay are only lawful if required by law, allowed by the contract or agreed in writing (WRC).
Sources
| Irish Statute Book | Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, section 20 · When annual leave is taken. Checked October 2026. |
| Citizens Information | Annual leave · Consultation, the leave year, sickness during leave. Checked October 2026. |
| WRC | Public holidays · Public holiday entitlements. Checked October 2026. |
| WRC | Deductions from pay · When deductions are lawful. Checked October 2026. |
FAQs
This is practical, general information for employers in Ireland. If you've got a dispute brewing or something unusual in a contract, check with the Workplace Relations Commission (its information service is free) or an employment solicitor.