Extra long weekend for lucky few

Some businesses in South Canterbury encouraged their staff to make the most of the Easter and Anzac Day public holidays falling just a week apart, by urging them to take the day off on Monday.

The temptation for workers to call in sick on Monday, and create their own four-day weekend, has been a hot topic on social and mainstream media as kiwis mull over their options.

With workplaces across the country expecting staff to opt for a second fourday weekend, some South Canterbury employers got in first and asked staff to take the day off - legitimately.

South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce president John Cannell said he had heard ‘‘anecdotally over the weekend’’ at least a couple of businesses had ‘‘encouraged’’ staff to take leave on Monday, so they could have a second four-day-weekend in a row.

Cannell said the Chamber also had a ‘‘large number [of staff] who have chosen to take the day off’’.

It was a similar case with Breen Plumbing, of which he was the general manager, he said.

‘‘We have people on annual leave, a large percentage of staff took annual leave’’, Cannell said.

This year taking the extra day off on Monday was even more appealing to parents, as it was one of the rare occasions when Easter and Anzac Day both fell during the school holidays.

‘‘I think that’s probably the reason why, I don’t remember this happening before,’’ he said.

Cannell said people working in some business sectors were more likely to get the day-off than others.

‘‘I think it just depends. A lot of industries, it’s difficult to get things started for a day then have a day off.

Things like retail and consumables are probably unchanged, I don’t think it would be too much different for them.’’

A Timaru District Council spokeswoman said the council hadn’t done anything different around leave allocation.