Santa’s job is done for another year and, all across the UK, children will be tearing into Christmas presents, parents will be panicking over the turkey and grandparents will be enjoying a well-deserved snooze in front of the TV. However, not everyone will be enjoying the most wonderful time of the year in this fashion, as many will be turning up to work in order to serve or protect the public.
Joining essential national services such as the police force, the fire brigade and the NHS will be a number of private sector workers who have chosen to work on Christmas Day. Restaurants and pubs will be leading the march, with some local stores, tourist destinations and hotels also joining in on the festive working rota.
Assistant manager of the Min Jiang restaurant in Kensington, Wei Chun Lee, believes that most of the staff coming in to work today will be perfectly happy to do so as it gives them a degree of flexibility over the festive period.
He explains; “Those that work on Christmas don’t have to work on New Year’s Eve – we find that’s the fairest way of working it.
“The single people that like to party pick up Christmas Day and the staff with families do New Year’s Eve.”
A word of warning for any consumers who wish to venture out for a bite to eat today, however – many restaurants tend to up their prices in order to cover the wage hikes for staff working at Christmas. This is also true for anyone requiring a taxi as fares increase for even shorter trips today.
Everyone’s worst nightmare on Christmas Day is the thought of the oven breaking down or a burst water pipe putting a dampener on dinner, but fortunately there are electricians and plumbers also willing to sacrifice a day with their families to come to the rescue. Plumber John Bailey, listed on tradesmen’s website handy.com, has worked on Christmas Day for the past 15 years and claims it is one of his favourite times of the whole year.
He says; “Working on Christmas Day is great for your ego – we shouldn’t have one, I know – but it’s great when you have fixed something and there’s big smiles all round. It makes you very happy, and it puts you in the festive spirit.”
Of course, Mr Bailey will also have a smile on his face today as he knows working on Christmas Day is an excellent way to top up the bank account after the festive shopping season. His first hour call out fee is £100, making Christmas one of the most profitable days of the year.
Whether you work in the service sector, the public sector or in retail, working on Christmas Day is a huge sacrifice, especially for those who love to spend the festive season with their families. Fortunately, with New Year’s Eve just around the corner, these hard workers will be able to make up for lost time!
Are you working today, and if so did you volunteer to do so?
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