staff at work have been given the option at work to finish for the christmas period 3 days early (unpaid) it doesnt apply to offices with 2 or less staff in (mine is one of them) i think its highly unfair that i want to be off with the children over xmas but i dont even have a choice!

whats everyones thoughts? is this fair?

your office doesn't close Christmas Day?  I think that is really unfair.  I'm not sure that there is anything you can do though unfortunately.  How many staff do you have there, just 2?

Love Lisa x

That does sound a little unfair.  Would be nice to be able to take the full time off, even if unpaid.

Love Lisa x

Are the other offices that are being offered this option going to be allowed to have everyone finishing on the 18th, or are they asking them to ensure they maintain a skeleton staff (eg two to three people) until the official closure time on 23rd?

If they are asking that all offices remain manned in some way until the 23rd, then they aren't offering it as an option that everyone can have as long as they work in an office of more than 2 people. They are simply saying they are happy for people to do this as long as there is a basic staff available in all offices (eg to answer queries). This would be a good reason why it's not being offered to you too.

If they are saying that everyone in those bigger offices can finish early but noone in the smaller ones can, then you need to ask why that's the case. If the reason sounds reasonable, then there's probably nothing you can do about it. However, if it does not sound reasonable, then you should challenge it with the HR department and ask for re-clarification on why you can't have the opportunity that everyone else can.

Jo