Holiday calendar for restaurants and QSR chains

Paid holidays that are still working days

Keep a normal list of paid holidays in the calendar, even though the outlet opens on most of them. The list does two jobs. It tells payroll which days are paid holidays, and it tells HR which worked days earn a comp-off credit. A steward who works the Diwali dinner service should be credited, and one rostered off that day should not lose pay. Because ZeniaHR's holiday list drives attendance, sandwich rules and payroll together, a missing entry quietly turns into an unpaid absence on someone's payslip.

Days an outlet closes or opens late

Outlets close on very few days, and each brand picks its own. Some stay shut until evening on Holi, when few guests come out and staff want to celebrate. Some close early on Diwali night for the staff's own puja, and some take a day off after the New Year's Eve rush. Enter these as company holidays applied only to the outlets that actually close, and keep the rest open with comp-off. A closure day that shows for every outlet, including a mall food court that stayed open, creates a pay dispute at month end.

Dry days and the bar team

Bars follow the dry days notified by the state excise department, which in many states include national holidays and polling days. On a dry day the bar team has little to do. Decide in advance whether bartenders take a holiday that day, move to floor service, or use the day for stock taking and training. If they take the day off, record it as a holiday for the bar department only, since each holiday in ZeniaHR can apply to chosen departments, and the kitchen and floor stay unaffected.

Regional festivals across cities

A chain with outlets in Kolkata, Bengaluru and Kochi lives three festival calendars. Durga Puja fills Kolkata outlets for five days, Onam brings sadya orders in Kochi, and Ugadi and Karnataka Rajyotsava matter in Bengaluru. Map each regional holiday to the outlets in that city by branch, add optional holidays with a pick limit for staff from other states, such as Chhath for cooks from Bihar, and read the optional holiday picks report before you set the roster for festival week.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. In Holiday Calendars, add the year's paid holidays with their categories, even for days the outlets stay open.
2. Add company holidays for true closures, such as Holi until evening, applied only to the outlets that close.
3. Apply dry days to the bar department where bartenders take the day off, leaving kitchen and floor unaffected.
4. Map regional festivals to outlets by branch, and add optional holidays with a yearly pick limit for staff from other states.
5. Mark holidays as paid in the deduction policy, adding a branch override for any outlet in a state with different rules.
6. After each festival, grant comp-off to staff who worked the holiday, and check the optional holiday picks before the next one.

Read more about holiday calendars in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions