Holiday Calendar for Event Management Companies

Public holidays are working days for much of an event company. Diwali brings corporate parties and family functions, Christmas and New Year's Eve bring the biggest nights of the year, and Navratri and Durga Puja bring their own events. The office can close on the usual holidays, but the event team often cannot. A good calendar keeps the holiday list honest, gives holiday duty a fair return, and lets staff take the festival days that matter to them when the event schedule allows.

Holidays that are event days

Start by listing the holidays your company actually works: Diwali week for corporate parties and family functions, Holi parties in the north, Navratri garba nights in Gujarat, Durga Puja events in the east, Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra. For each, decide whether the office closes while the event team works, or the whole company works. Keep the holiday on the calendar either way, so whoever works it is owed something back, a day off or holiday pay, instead of losing the day quietly.

Office holidays and branch lists

Planning, accounts and creative staff can usually take the fixed holidays: the national days and the main festivals of their city. Companies with offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur should keep a branch list for each, since regional festivals differ. For a department that works the same festival every year, such as production during Diwali, two approaches work: keep the holiday for everyone and give comp-off to whoever works it, or leave that department off the holiday and give it a company holiday in the lean season instead.

Holiday duty and comp-off

When a coordinator spends Diwali at a client's party, the fair return is a day off at a quieter time. Credit one comp-off per festival worked, or pay those hours at the holiday multiplier, which must not go below double the ordinary wage rate. Most event staff prefer the day off. Set the comp-off expiry long enough to reach a calmer stretch, because the weeks after Diwali are still crowded with weddings.

Optional holidays for festival days

Event teams are young and mixed, and people care about their own festivals: Eid, Christmas, Onam, Lohri, Chhath, Karva Chauth. Offer a few optional holidays each year and let people pick in the app. Because optional days often fall in peak weeks, ask staff to pick early, and have the event manager check the optional holiday report when staffing the season's events so clashes are sorted before the invitations go out.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

Load each office's holiday list into Holiday Calendars, choosing the category for every entry and marking fixed dates as recurring.
If your policy says so, leave the production or event department off holidays it always works, and give it a company holiday in the lean season.
Set the holiday multiplier and payout rule in the overtime policy for staff who work festival events.
Allow a few optional holidays with a yearly pick limit, and ask staff to choose before the season starts.
Check the optional holiday report whenever you staff events in peak weeks.
Decide in the leave rules whether a holiday sitting between two leave days is charged, and publish that with the holiday list.

Read more about holiday calendars in ZeniaHR.

Holiday calendars

Roles this applies to

Front Office Associate Guest Relations Executive Bellboy Room Attendant Laundry Attendant

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Frequently asked questions

Do event management staff get a holiday on Diwali?

Office staff usually do, but the event team often works Diwali parties and festive functions. Keep the holiday on the calendar and give a comp-off or holiday pay to those who work it, or give the event team a company holiday later in the lean season. Say which approach you use in the policy.

How do event companies pay for holiday work?

Most give a day off in return for each festival worked; others pay the hours at the overtime policy's holiday multiplier, which should never be below double the ordinary wage rate. Many event staff prefer the day off, so set a comp-off expiry that reaches the quieter months.

Is New Year's Eve a holiday for event companies?

The 31st of December is not a public holiday, and for event companies it is usually the busiest night of the year. Plan the roster early, pay overtime or give comp-off for the long night, and consider giving the team a rest day right after it.

How should optional holidays work in an event company?

Offer a few optional festival days and ask each person to choose theirs in the app early in the year. Since festivals often fall in peak weeks, the event manager can check who picked which day while staffing events, and agree swaps where two picks clash with a show.