Decide how many people each team can have off on each day, then it's first come, first served up to that number, with whoever worked last Christmas winning a tie. Tell everyone the rule in October along with a deadline. Look at genuine family situations person by person - the law actually expects you to - but don't make "parents first" the blanket rule, because family status is a protected ground in Ireland.
There's no perfect way of doing this, if we're honest. Somebody's always going to be disappointed when four people want the 29th and you can spare two. What you can do is make sure the disappointment is about the rule, not about you. That's the whole trick really.
We've had three people ask for the same days between Christmas and New Year within about a week of each other. We couldn't let all three go, and because there wasn't a rule, it felt like we were choosing favourites - even though we weren't. The person who missed out was fine about it in the end, but it was a horrible week. These days the rule's in the October email and it's barely an issue.
Is first come first served fair for Christmas?
Fair enough, yes - and it's definitely the simplest. Everyone knows the rule, everyone has the same chance and the people who plan ahead get rewarded for it. It's what we use.
It does have one weakness, to be fair. Some people end up booking Christmas in February just to be safe, and anyone who can't plan that far ahead can feel a bit stitched up. Two things sort most of that out for us:
- Don't open Christmas requests until you send the Christmas email in October. Anything earlier gets a polite "hang on until October".
- Use last Christmas as the tie-break, so the same person can't win every single year.
Some businesses prefer to collect everything up to the deadline and then decide all at once. That's perfectly fair too, it's just more work for you and you still need a tie-break.
In Book Time Off you set how many people can be off at once in each department. Once a team's full for a date, nobody else in it can book that day, so the first-come bit genuinely is first come - not "first one the boss happened to see". You can still override it as an admin if there's a good reason. It won't do the tie-break for you, we should say, that bit's still your call.
→ Start free trialA Christmas rota: taking turns year on year
Taking turns sounds like the fairest option and over a few years it probably is. Work Christmas this year, get it off next year. Lovely.
In practice it's a bit of a faff for a small team. Someone has to keep a record of who worked which year, it goes to pieces as soon as someone leaves or a new person joins and it doesn't cope well with "I worked Christmas Eve but not New Year's Eve". That's why we just use it as the tie-break rather than the main rule. If you're open every day over Christmas - a care home, a pub, a shop - a proper rota probably does make sense. For an office or a trade that's mostly quiet, it's overkill.
Should parents get priority at Christmas?
Not as a blanket rule, no - and in Ireland there's an extra reason to be careful. Family status (being a parent, or the main carer for someone with a disability) is one of the nine grounds protected under the Employment Equality Acts. Treating people better or worse because they do or don't have kids is exactly the kind of thing that ground is about. "Parents get first pick" sounds kind, but it isn't fair on everyone else, who've got families too, and it can land you in front of the WRC.
Here's the nuance though. When you decide when someone takes their annual leave, the law actually expects you to take their family responsibilities into account. So looking at a genuine situation person by person - a separated parent who only has the kids every other Christmas, say - is just being a decent employer, and it's what the law asks of you. It's turning it into the blanket rule that causes the problems.
What about staff who don't celebrate Christmas?
Don't assume. It's tempting to quietly put the person who doesn't celebrate Christmas on the rota every year, but that's not fair on them and religion is another of the protected grounds. Lots of people who don't celebrate still want the time off - the schools are shut, the whole country's on holiday, it's a good time to travel home.
If someone genuinely wants to work Christmas, brilliant, let them volunteer. Plenty do. And if you're happy to bend for Christmas, be just as flexible when they want annual leave for Eid, Diwali or anything else that matters to them.
How many people can be off at once?
As many as you can lose and still do the work that actually comes in. Work that out first, per team and per day, and the "who gets it" question gets a lot easier because you're only choosing between a couple of people, not the whole office.
Look at last year's 28 to 31 December honestly. If the phone barely rang, you probably need fewer people in than you think. And if you're thinking of just closing instead (which makes this whole question go away), have a look at do companies close over Christmas in Ireland?
How to tell someone they can't have Christmas off
Quickly, kindly and with the reason. The longer you sit on it, the more plans they make around a yes that isn't coming.
- Tell them as soon as you know - ideally in early November, not mid December.
- Point to the rule, not to the other person. "We can only have two off that day and they're both booked" lands a lot better than "Aoife got in first".
- Offer something. Another day nearby, first pick next Christmas or a swap if someone's willing.
- Put it in writing afterwards, even just a line, so nobody remembers it differently.
We've had to have the "sorry, someone's already got that week" conversation. It's always awkward. What made the biggest difference wasn't how we worded it - it was being able to say the rule had been in everyone's inbox since October. It stops being about you and starts being about the rule, which is a lot easier for both of you.
In Book Time Off everyone can see the team wallchart, so people can usually see the 29th's already taken before they even ask. And if they do try to book a full day, it tells them straight away - so the "no" comes from the system, in the moment, not from you three weeks later. Not a replacement for actually talking to people, mind, but it takes a lot of the sting out.
→ Start free trialIf you need to turn down a request, there's a bit more to it - we've covered it in can I refuse annual leave at Christmas? The whole Christmas plan is 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 (Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, s.20).
- The Employment Equality Acts protect nine grounds, including family status, religion and age - so rules like "parents first" or "longest-serving first" carry real risk (WRC).
- Family status covers parents of children under 18 and the main carers of adults with a disability (IHREC).
- Staff must still be able to take their statutory annual leave, so you can't keep refusing until they can't use it (Citizens Information).
Sources
| Irish Statute Book | Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, section 20 · When annual leave is taken, family responsibilities. Checked October 2026. |
| WRC | Employment equality · The nine discriminatory grounds. Checked October 2026. |
| IHREC | Family status discrimination at work · What the family status ground covers. Checked October 2026. |
| Citizens Information | Annual leave · 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.