Specifying holiday dates

In the base configuration, PolicyCenter determines weekends and work days by using configuration parameters in the config.xml file. However, you specify holidays through the user interface. Using the user interface gives you more flexibility in defining holidays, and you can make changes without having to restart the server.

To specify the holidays observed by your business, on the PolicyCenter Administration tab, navigate to the Business Settings > Holidays screen. PolicyCenter stores all holidays you define in this screen in the database. All holidays are editable. With administrator privileges, you specify:

  • Name – There is no limit on the holidays or on the names you give them. Each holiday is one day, so you must enter all the actual days if a holiday results in multiple days off. For example, you must specify two holidays for Thanksgiving in the United States if the company gives employees Thursday and Friday off.
  • Date – The dates of some holidays vary each year, so this screen enables annual updates.
  • Applies to All Zones – Determines who observes the holiday. You can further select the type of zone, such as state, county, or city in the United States if the holiday does not apply to all zones.

    PolicyCenter does not support this field.

  • Types – Provides one way to categorize holidays. You can also define other types.

    The types in the base configuration are Company Holidays and General.

Holiday types

You can give holidays different classifications, or categories, by specifying the Type field. In the default configuration, PolicyCenter provides two types: General and Company Holidays.

You can use Gosu code in conjunction with holiday type to add logic to the handling of holidays. For example, if your company grants a holiday to all employees on the birthday of the company founder, you can create a Founders Birthday holiday of type Company Holidays. You can write code that avoids scheduling due dates on company holidays or add specific handling for special days like the Founders Birthday.