Home Bargains to stay closed on Boxing Day to give staff a rest

SHOPPERS won't be able to pop into Home Bargains for a Boxing Day bargain this year as the chain will be shut - but it's for a really good reason.

In the true spirit of Christmas, the discount retailer is giving its 17,000 employees an extra day off to "thank them for their hard work".

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The Boxing Day closures will mean shops will shut on Christmas Eve night and won't open again until the morning of December 27.

As an extra Christmas present, staff won't even have to give up a day of their precious holiday allowance for the Boxing Day closures.

That means every employee will have an extra paid day of annual leave as a bonus this year.

Full-time workers at Home Bargains are given the legal minimum of 28 days holiday a year, which includes the eight UK bank holidays.

That means this year full-time Home Bargains employees will have 29 days paid holiday if they're given the minimum allowance.

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Shops will be open on Christmas Eve and December 27. Home Bargains said that opening times will vary according to stores and many have not yet published their times yet.

In a statement on its social media account, Home Bargains wrote: "To our staff: Thank you for your hard work this year.

"We will be closing all our stores on Boxing Day to give you the day off. We hope you enjoy the Christmas holiday.

"To our customers: All of our stores will be closed this year on Boxing Day to give our hard working staff some extra time off.

"They will reopen the day after Boxing Day. Thank you for understanding."

Fans have praised the chain for giving workers the day off - and urged other retailers to do the same.

One wrote: "This is immense!! Truely putting the employee first. All #retail stores #worldwide should follow this superb example of #leadership....wow! just wow!"

Another added: "Thank you, I work for the NHS and I’m working Christmas Day, my daughter works for Home Bargains, so we will be able to spend Boxing Day all together."

One said: "Never understood people who go shopping on Boxing Day...I want to spend the days with my family, not in shops like the rest of the year."

Home Bargains has more than 500 stores across the UK. You can find out where your nearest shop is on .

Boxing Day is one of the biggest shopping days of the year, so Home Bargains is taking a business risk by choosing to stay shut.

Last year, it's thought that 23million people hit the high streets on December 26, spending about £4.5billion.

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Tom Morris, founder and managing director of Home Bargains, said: “Christmas is a significant period in the retail calendar, and with staff across the business spending months building up to the occasion every year, we wanted to give them an opportunity to relax and truly enjoy the break with their loved ones.

“Home Bargains is a family-run business and we know the importance of being with loved ones at Christmas time.

"We also appreciate that our staff work tirelessly to keep over 500 of our stores running like clockwork, so giving everyone Boxing Day off is our way of saying thank you for their hard work and commitment."

This year, Home Bargains is selling £8 personalised snow globes, which look adorable.

It's also selling colourful unicorn chocolate for 99p a bar.

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