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Mark your calendars: All you need to know when vacation-planning for 2018

As Benjamin Franklin once said, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!"

In this special edition of our HR Bulletin, to help with your holiday planning for 2018, the team at Human Resources has rounded up the 10 most helpful stories over the past year - from public holiday dates and long weekends, to how to stay unplugged during your vacation.

Please click below for the stories:


 1. 2018 list of public holidays across Asia Pacific and globally

Whether you’re planning a vacation to visit family members overseas or a teleconference with your colleagues based overseas, this list of APAC and global holidays might come in handy.

[full story]


2. Singapore announces four long weekends for 2018

The Ministry of Manpower has released the list of Singapore’s public holidays for next year, with the good news of four long weekends (with holidays either falling on a Friday or Monday) in 2018.

[full story]


3. 2018 list of public holidays in store for Malaysia

Following Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower’s announcement that there will be four long weekends in 2018, Malaysian employers and their teams also have their fair (or even greater) share of joy over the long list of national holidays in Malaysia for 2018.

[full story]


4. 12 long weekends in Malaysia for 2018

If you live in Malaysia and want to plan your days off next year, here is a list of the long weekends for 2018:

[full story]


5. Long weekends to look forward to in 2018

It is never too early to plan ahead for your holidays, since applying for leave can be a “mission impossible” at some organisations in Hong Kong.

[full story]


6. Learning to safely unplug from the office when on vacation

Aren't the best vacations those when you don't have someone calling from the office talking about putting a fire out?

[full story]


7. The best companies for holidays

While our companies and government don’t offer much, it is interesting to see what other organisations offer. Glassdoor has identified the highest rated companies for vacation and paid time off in the United States, based on benefits reviews shared by their own employees.

[full story]


8. Employees want more paid time off, but aren’t using it

While more time off has often been cited as a top perk desired by employees, new research questions whether such a perk is actually being effectively used by staff today.

A survey by Namely has found that attitudes towards vacation days are starting to shift due to increasing demands of the workplace.

[full story]


9. Millennials are the most reluctant to take time off work

We’ve all heard that employees want more time off, but aren’t using it. While we might assume that the employees who aren’t using their vacation time are from the older generation, findings from Project: Time Off’s new report pointed out that Millennial workers are the most likely generation to forfeit time off, despite having the least amount of vacation days.

[full story]


10. Heavier workload top reason why staff are taking fewer days off

A heavy workloads would seem like one of the prime reasons for professionals to go on vacation.

New research, however, points to the opposite.

[full story]


If you enjoyed these interviews, you can also stay posted on our latest news and conversations by following Human Resources on TwitterFacebook, and LinkedIn, or signing up for our daily HR Bulletin.

Best wishes for the new year!

– Human Resources team

Photo / 123RF

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