Holidays
Configure company-wide days off that affect all users' availability and project scheduling.
Overview
What Are Company Holidays?
Company holidays are company-wide days off when everyone in your organization is unavailable, regardless of their personal schedules. When a date is marked as a company holiday:
- All users automatically become unavailable on that date
- Scheduling warnings appear when someone tries to book that day
- No manual coordination needed - applies to entire company
- Consistent across all departments - everyone follows same holiday calendar
How Company Holidays Work
Company holidays have the highest priority in the availability system:
| Priority | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Highest) | Company Holidays | Blocks everyone |
| 2 | User's Weekly Schedule | Individual working hours |
| 3 | Existing Appointments | Activities, meetings |
What this means: Even if a user has working hours set for December 25th, they'll still be unavailable if Christmas is a company holiday.
Prerequisites
To manage company holidays, you need administrator access with the Company Setup permission.
How to check your permissions:
- Try navigating to Settings > Company Holidays
- If you see "Access Denied," contact your system administrator
Accessing Holiday Management
- Click your profile menu (top-right corner)
- Select Settings
- Click Company Holidays in the left sidebar
Managing Holidays
Viewing Holidays
The Company Holidays page displays:
- Year Filter: Dropdown to view past or future years
- Include Past: Toggle to show/hide holidays that have passed
- Sort Order: Chronological (earliest to latest)
- Status Indicators: Active holidays shown in color, inactive grayed out
Adding a Holiday
One-Time Holiday (Specific Year)
Use this for:
- Company events (picnics, parties, all-hands meetings)
- Special closures (renovations, moving days)
- Non-recurring observances
Steps:
- Click Add Holiday button
- Enter holiday name (e.g., "Company Picnic")
- Select date using calendar picker
- Leave "Recurring annually" unchecked
- Click Save Holiday
This holiday will only appear for the selected year and won't repeat.
Recurring Holiday (Every Year)
Use this for:
- Federal holidays (Christmas, New Year's, July 4th)
- Annual company traditions (Founder's Day)
- Religious observances (if your company observes them)
Steps:
- Click Add Holiday button
- Enter holiday name (e.g., "Independence Day")
- Select date (e.g., July 4, 2025)
- Check "Recurring annually"
- Click Save Holiday
This holiday will appear every year on the same date (2025, 2026, 2027, etc.).
:::info Recurring Holidays The system stores the month and day, so it automatically generates the holiday for all future years. :::
Editing a Holiday
- Find the holiday in the list
- Click the edit icon
- Modify the fields:
- Name
- Date
- Recurring status
- Click Save Changes
What You Can Change:
- Holiday name (fix typos, update description)
- Date (if entered incorrectly)
- Convert one-time to recurring (or vice versa)
- Activate/deactivate holiday
:::warning Existing Bookings Editing a holiday does not automatically cancel existing appointments on that date. You'll need to reschedule affected appointments manually. :::
Deleting a Holiday
- Find the holiday in the list
- Click the delete icon
- Confirm deletion in the dialog
- Holiday is immediately removed
When to Delete:
- Holiday was added by mistake
- Company no longer observes that holiday
- Duplicate entry exists
When NOT to Delete:
- To temporarily disable → Use "Deactivate" instead
- For past holidays → Keep for historical record, use filter to hide
Deactivating vs. Deleting
| Action | Effect | Reversible? |
|---|---|---|
| Deactivate | Holiday remains in database but isn't enforced | Yes |
| Delete | Holiday completely removed | No |
How to Deactivate:
- Edit the holiday
- Uncheck "Active"
- Save changes
Using Holiday Templates
Importing a Template
- Click Import from Template button
- Select a template:
- US Federal Holidays
- Common US Business Holidays
- Choose starting year (defaults to current year)
- Review the preview list
- Optionally check Mark all as recurring (recommended)
- Click Import Holidays
:::note Duplicate Prevention Importing doesn't create duplicates—the system checks for existing holidays with the same date and name. :::
Customizing After Import
After importing a template, you might want to:
-
Add company-specific holidays:
- Founder's Day
- Company anniversary
- Local/regional observances
-
Remove holidays your company doesn't observe:
- Veterans Day (some businesses stay open)
- Day after Thanksgiving
-
Adjust names to match your company's terminology
How Holidays Affect Scheduling
Activity Scheduling
When creating or editing activities, company holidays provide real-time warnings:
Before Adding Holiday:
- Activity: "Site Visit"
- Date: December 25, 2025
- Status: ✅ No conflicts
After Adding Christmas Holiday:
- Activity: "Site Visit"
- Date: December 25, 2025
- Status: ⚠️ Company Holiday: Christmas Day
:::info Warnings Don't Block The system shows warnings but does not prevent scheduling on holidays. Users can proceed if they have a valid reason (e.g., emergency work, maintenance during closure). :::
Project Calendars & Gantt Charts
Company holidays affect how projects are displayed and calculated:
Visual Indicators
In project calendars and scheduling views, company holidays may appear as:
- Shaded/grayed out dates
- Holiday labels on the date
- Different background color from regular weekends
Duration Calculations
When holidays are added, they affect project timeline calculations:
Example:
- Project: Kitchen Remodel
- Start: December 22, 2025 (Monday)
- Duration: 5 business days
- Original End: December 26, 2025 (Friday)
After Adding Christmas (Dec 25):
- New End: December 29, 2025 (Monday)
The system treats Dec 25 as a non-working day and automatically extends the end date.
Gantt Chart Behavior
Task Duration
When calculating task duration, holidays are excluded from working days:
Task: "Foundation Work"
Duration: 10 days
Start: Nov 24, 2025 (Monday)
Without Holidays:
End: Dec 5, 2025 (excludes weekends only)
With Thanksgiving Holidays (Nov 27-28):
End: Dec 9, 2025 (excludes weekends + 2 holidays)
Dependency Chains
Holidays affect dependent tasks—if Task A shifts due to a holiday, all dependent tasks shift accordingly.
Critical Path
Adding holidays may affect the project's critical path:
- Critical tasks shift
- Float/slack time may change
- Overall project completion date may extend
:::tip Best Practice Review critical path after adding holidays that fall within active project timelines. :::
Existing Scheduled Items
Important: Adding a company holiday does not automatically cancel or reschedule existing activities, appointments, or project tasks.
- Items remain on their original dates
- They'll show holiday warnings when viewed
- Responsible parties must manually reschedule
Resource Capacity
Users are automatically marked as unavailable (0 hours capacity) on company holidays:
| Day | Capacity |
|---|---|
| Mon (Dec 22) | 8 hours |
| Tue (Dec 23) | 8 hours |
| Wed (Dec 24) | 8 hours |
| Thu (Dec 25) | 0 hours (Christmas) |
| Fri (Dec 26) | 8 hours |
| Week Total | 32 hours (not 40) |
Handling Edge Cases
Holidays on Weekends
The system does not automatically handle weekend observance.
Scenario: Christmas Day falls on Saturday.
Your Options:
- Observe on actual day: Add holiday for Saturday December 25
- Observe on Friday: Add holiday for Friday December 24, name it "Christmas Day Observed"
- Add both: Saturday as holiday, Friday as "Day before Christmas"
Follow your company's HR policy. Most companies observe Friday if holiday falls on Saturday, Monday if it falls on Sunday.
Partial-Day Closures
The system treats holidays as all-day events.
Scenario: "Half-day before Christmas" - closing at noon.
Workaround:
- Don't add as company holiday
- Have individual users update their personal availability for that day
Department-Specific Days Off
Company holidays apply to everyone.
Scenario: "Engineering Off-Site" - only engineering team unavailable.
Solution:
- Don't add as company holiday
- Team members should add calendar activities or personal availability overrides
Use Company Holidays Only For: Days when the entire company is closed.
Best Practices
Holiday Planning
- Plan ahead - Add next year's holidays in October/November before Q1 project planning
- Communicate - Notify staff before adding holidays that affect scheduled activities
- Be consistent - Follow company HR policy for which days are observed
- Review annually - Audit holiday list each year for accuracy
Managing Changes
-
Before adding a holiday in an active project period:
- Check the project calendar view for that date
- Look for active projects spanning that date
- Manually review critical path projects
- Notify affected project managers
-
When removing a holiday:
- Consider if projects were scheduled around it
- Communicate the change to affected teams
Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
Q: Can I temporarily disable a holiday without deleting it?
A: Yes! Edit the holiday and uncheck "Active". Inactive holidays won't block scheduling but remain in the system for reactivation.
Q: What happens to activities scheduled before a holiday was added?
A: Existing activities remain scheduled. The system doesn't automatically cancel or reschedule them—you'll need to handle that manually.
Q: How far in advance can I add holidays?
A: As far as you want! Recurring holidays automatically apply to all future years.
Recurring Holidays
Q: Can I edit just one occurrence of a recurring holiday?
A: No, editing a recurring holiday updates the pattern for all years. For a one-year exception, create a separate one-time holiday.
Q: How do I stop a recurring holiday after a certain year?
A: You can only delete the entire recurring holiday. Workaround: Convert to one-time holidays for each specific year.
Templates
Q: Can I customize a template before importing?
A: Not currently. Import the template, then edit or delete individual holidays after.
Q: What happens if I import the same template twice?
A: The system checks for duplicates and won't create the same holiday twice.
Permissions & Access
Q: Who can view company holidays?
A: Everyone in the company can see the holiday list when scheduling. Only admins with COMPANY_SETUP permission can add/edit/delete.
Q: Can I delegate holiday management to HR?
A: Yes, your system administrator can grant the COMPANY_SETUP permission to specific users.
Project Impact
Q: Do company holidays automatically adjust project timelines in Gantt charts?
A: Yes. Gantt charts automatically recalculate to treat holidays as non-working days.
Q: Can I add a holiday without affecting existing project schedules?
A: No, holidays automatically affect all timeline calculations. You can mark a holiday as "Inactive" first, then activate it after reviewing project impacts.