But for about 500 people arriving at work at Otago House in Dunedin yesterday, Monday was marvellous.
They were all sent home again because of an unexpected power cut to the building.
New Zealand Moray Property Ltd manager Lynne Ray said a water mains burst on the corner of Moray Pl and Princes St about 8.30pm on Sunday, flooding a nearby power transformer.
Most staff took advantage of a long weekend, but some ventured into the building with torches to retrieve laptops and paperwork, so they could work from home, she said.
Delta network services manager Lindsay McLennan said Otago House was not the only building affected by the power cut.
The flooded transformer severed power to about 60 businesses in Moray Pl and Princes St.
A substation in Burlington St was also affected, cutting power to eight businesses in the area.
Electricity was restored by 8am yesterday to most of the affected businesses in Moray Pl and Princes St after power was re-routed from other areas of the network.
However, the network could not cope with large power users such as Otago House and NHNZ, and power was not restored to these buildings until 1.15pm.
Ms Ray said the power cut was "totally unexpected but not surprising".
"We do live in a city that's got a very old water system. You can expect that things will wear out from time to time."
Construction workers employed on the three-floor extension to the top of Otago House also had to abandon work yesterday because of the power cut.
The extension was due to be completed by next March.
Ms Ray said all staff were expected to return to work today.
