Otago-Southland manufacturers were likely to take the designated holiday break starting tomorrow, many of them to get maintenance work completed, Employers Association chief executive John Scandrett said.
Otago-Southland has led the country in recent months in both manufacturing and service industry activity, as measured by the BNZ-BusinessNZ performance in manufacturing and performance in service indices.
The Otago Daily Times contacted Mr Scandrett to ask whether the increased number of forward orders for manufacturers and activity for the service industry meant some people would forgo a lengthy holiday break.
Many businesses closed over the break and required employees to take leave, as permitted by the Holidays Act, he said.
Some business that normally closed over Christmas might need to stay open to meet orders or other unseasonal pressures.
Prior consultation should precede making decisions to take into account employees might have relied on normal patterns to make plans for the Christmas break.
‘‘Obviously, flexibility and compromise may be needed to meet both employers' and employees' needs.''The holiday period was split this year, Mr Scandrett said.
Christmas Day was a Friday and was the day nearly everyone would observe as Christmas. For most people, Boxing Day would be observed on Monday, December 28.
If employees normally worked on Saturday, they would observe Boxing Day on December 26, as usual. The same situation applied to the New Year break.
Anyone who had to work on the day they would otherwise observe as the statutory holiday - Friday and Monday for most, Friday and Saturday for some - would receive time and a-half pay for the time they worked and a day off in lieu.
Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan said members had been telling him for about three months they were busy just before Christmas and they might not get every job completed.
‘‘They won't get it all done but there are contracts that need to be fulfilled. It is good news to hear people say they are busy but what I hope is people are not busier doing more work with the profits remaining the same.''
It was important as well to look at the health side of the Health and Safety Act at this time of the year, he said. Having a break should be a priority if people had been working at pace throughout the year.
Chamber members had talked about good work flows and a good number were reporting forward contracts and orders.
The real estate figures were encouraging and recent data out about activity in Otago had been encouraging.
‘‘We may not have the numbers exactly where we want them but they are heading in the right direction of more jobs, more employment and more economic growth,'' Mr McGowan said.
