Yorkshire Building Society is giving all its colleagues an early Christmas gift this year with an extra day off for Christmas Eve.
As Christmas Eve (24 December) falls on a Friday this year, it means that colleagues will receive a full five-day break over the festive season as they will return to work on Wednesday 29 December.
It also means customers will need to plan ahead if they need to contact the Society around this time as the Society’s branches and call centres will be closed during these dates. Customers that are registered for online account management will be unaffected by this announcement.
This is the second year that the Society has given colleagues Christmas Eve off and recognises the immense challenges of the last two years where its staff have gone above and beyond in their roles. As key workers they have kept the vast majority of branches open throughout the pandemic and call centres have remained open to provide essential financial services to customers. 1,400 staff also switched from office to home-working.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Society has focused on supporting its customers and colleagues. It has prioritised keeping members in their homes, ensuring their savings are safe and looking after colleagues’ health and wellbeing.
Stephen White, Interim Chief Executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “We wanted to do something that recognised the extraordinary couple of years that our colleagues have been through, and hope that by giving colleagues Christmas Eve off again this year and providing an extended break to relax and spend time with family at home shows in part my immense gratitude to them.
“Since March last year, our response to Covid-19 has been to focus on the key priorities of keeping members in their homes, making sure their savings are secure and accessible, and looking after our colleagues’ safety and wellbeing. Without the massive efforts of our colleagues none of this would have been possible. I also hope customers understand why we have made this decision to recognise our colleagues in this way after this unprecedented year.”
The mutual has also offered colleagues unlimited dependents and carers leave at full pay and anyone who is shielding, unwell or needs to self-isolate and cannot work from home qualifies for paid sick leave at their full salary.
