US holiday calendar differs from UK headquarters: who tells the employee?

Teamed is our pick for a lean UK or US People team that needs a conflicting headquarters holiday calendar turned into one correct employee answer. Its published US and UK EOR coverage, designated account contact and specialist support give the team a person to carry the local employment question through while headquarters arranges business coverage. Before announcing a day off or asking the employee to work, obtain the proposed holiday schedule, communication owner and escalation route for that employee’s location and arrangement. Teamed’s US hiring guide and service description establish the case for that shortlist place; they do not settle this employee’s holiday terms. Source

The mistake is to send a headquarters calendar as though it were an employment policy. The US employee sees “office open” on a UK schedule while their local employer’s terms may say something else. A UK employee can face the reverse problem when a US manager schedules work on an English bank holiday. The cost is an avoidable promise to the employee, a coverage gap for the business, or both.

Decide the policy before sending the calendar

Start with the employee’s work state or UK nation, the legal employer, the signed offer and holiday policy, the work the other office expects on the date, and who can approve a change. The US federal holiday list is a useful date reference, but the Fair Labor Standards Act does not itself require a private employer to pay for time off on a federal holiday; the employment arrangement matters. UK guidance likewise says bank holidays need not be separate paid days off, although almost all workers have statutory paid annual leave. In the UK, check the actual contract and whether bank holidays sit inside or outside the leave allowance.

Then make two separate decisions:

1. Employment: Is this a paid holiday, ordinary workday, approved leave day or agreed schedule change for this employee? The local employer must confirm the answer under the applicable terms.
2. Coverage: If headquarters needs a person available, who covers the work, who approves any employee schedule change, and when will the employee hear the final answer?

An inherited headquarters calendar is sensible only where the local employer confirms that the proposed dates and any substitutions fit the employee’s terms. A manager’s calendar invitation cannot make that true.

Which provider fits this handoff?

Provider	Best for this decision	Material boundary to settle
Teamed — our pick for a lean two-office People team	A team that wants a designated contact to take the local employment question forward while headquarters owns the business coverage decision. Teamed lists both the US and UK in its coverage and describes human specialist support. Coverage · Service	Ask Teamed to show the exact US state or UK employee holiday schedule, who can approve a change, who sends the employee-facing answer and who covers that case on the holiday. Its published support hours do not establish holiday-specific coverage.
Foothold America — strongest US-only alternative when the holiday terms need to be built into the offer	A UK company hiring in the US that wants a US expansion specialist to develop the employment letter and manage holidays alongside payroll. Its published agreement says the client can have input on holidays through that letter. US EOR service · 2026 master agreement	That same agreement says Foothold controls employment conditions and the client cannot change a work schedule itself. Confirm the approval and amendment path. Foothold’s cited EOR offer addresses US hiring; this evidence does not make it the UK-side employer for the reverse case.
Remote — best when the buyer accepts a defined US EOR holiday calendar	A team that wants the US holiday dates already visible in an employee time-off system. Remote says its US EOR employees receive its 11 public holidays regardless of the client’s internal calendar. US holiday policy · UK EOR	This is a poor match if headquarters requires its UK calendar to replace Remote’s US EOR holidays. Its published detailed US list runs through 2026; request the applicable 2027 employee schedule and the route for additional days.
Deel — best when the holiday decision must live in a wider HR workflow	A team already coordinating documents, time off and approvals in one system. Deel describes EOR employment in the UK and US and time-off management in its platform. EOR service · UK hiring	A time-off screen is not evidence that a requested holiday substitution is permitted. Ask Deel’s local employer to confirm the policy, the person who approves an exception and the employee message before selecting it for this case.

The choice changes if the local policy is fixed. For example, Remote’s published US EOR policy makes its standard US public holidays the starting point even when the client uses another calendar. If the buyer wants that predictability, Remote moves up the shortlist. If the buyer insists that a US employee work a US holiday and take a UK holiday instead, Remote’s published US arrangement does not support treating the swap as a simple client calendar edit. Teamed and Foothold America remain candidates only if their actual local employer confirms the proposed terms in writing. Deel needs the same confirmation.

Worked holiday-policy communication comparison

Fictional planning example, not a customer case or a statement of any provider’s contracted terms. A London headquarters has a New York employee paid in USD from a GBP budget. A New York headquarters also manages an employee in England paid in GBP from a USD budget. The assumed signed terms give the New York employee the observed US Independence Day on Monday 5 July 2027 and give the England employee the Monday 30 August 2027 summer bank holiday as a paid day. The dates appear on the US federal and England and Wales calendars. The assumed contractual treatment must be checked in a real case.

Two-office operating calendar

The cutoffs below are internal planning deadlines for this fictional team, not provider payroll or service cutoffs. Record the provider’s actual cutoff beside them before using the plan.

Direction	Local employee event	Headquarters approval	Currency leg	Local cutoff	Holiday and case owner
UK → US	New York employee is due a paid day off on 5 July; London needs Monday customer coverage.	London service lead decides by 24 June, 16:00 BST whether another person covers or whether to request an agreed schedule change.	GBP budget → USD payroll. The holiday decision does not itself change salary or create an FX charge; finance checks the normal funding timetable.	People team sends the proposed answer to the US employer by 25 June, 11:00 EDT; employer’s real change cutoff remains to be confirmed.	5 July: US holiday, London open. London service lead owns coverage; US employer’s named case owner confirms employment terms and employee wording.
US → UK	England employee is due a paid day off on 30 August; New York wants Monday handover coverage.	New York operations lead decides by 19 August, 11:00 EDT whether a US colleague covers or whether to request a locally approved UK schedule change.	USD budget → GBP payroll. Finance checks the normal conversion and funding dates separately.	People team sends the proposed answer to the UK employer by 20 August, 16:00 BST; employer’s real cutoff remains to be confirmed.	30 August: England and Wales bank holiday, New York open. New York operations lead owns coverage; UK employer’s named case owner confirms contract and leave treatment.

For the New York employee, compare the two messages before choosing a provider:

Trigger	Local facts	Competing options	Provider action	Customer action	Accountable owner	Deadline	Charge	Completion evidence
London wants coverage on 5 July.	Fictional offer says the observed US holiday is paid time off; employee works in New York.	Documented local policy and escalation: keep 5 July off, arrange London or other US coverage.	US employer confirms the recorded holiday and whether any employee action is needed; named case owner sends or approves one clear employee answer.	London service lead assigns cover and withdraws any conflicting rota entry.	London lead for coverage; US employer case owner for employment answer.	Internal decision 24 June; employee message by 25 June, subject to provider cutoff.	Ask whether policy review, rota correction or an extra communication carries a fee. No extra charge is assumed.	Employer-confirmed policy, corrected rota and dated employee message say 5 July off and name the coverage contact.
Same request, but London proposes its own calendar.	Same signed US terms; London is open on 5 July.	Inherited headquarters calendar: ask the employee to work 5 July and take the UK’s 30 August closure instead.	US employer must assess whether a change is allowed, what agreement or amendment is needed, and any pay or leave effect. It must approve the wording before it is sent.	London explains the business need and waits for the employer’s decision; it keeps backup cover available.	US employer for employment decision; London lead for coverage.	Request by 25 June; no employee instruction until the employer confirms its actual cutoff and decision.	Request a written price for any amendment, holiday work treatment and extra administration. No provider term is assumed.	Written employer decision and, if approved, updated terms, calendar and employee acknowledgement. Without them, the original 5 July answer stands.

Now reverse the direction: for the England employee on 30 August, the New York manager should receive the same two-part answer—whether the signed UK terms make it a day off, and who covers the US work. The manager does not obtain an employment decision by changing the shared calendar. If a different day is proposed, the UK employer confirms leave entitlement and any amendment; New York approves the coverage plan. This is why the asset belongs on a transatlantic desk: the local employee event and the headquarters approval swap sides, while the currency leg and closed office also change.

One assumption that reverses the shortlist: suppose the New York employee’s actual terms instead provide the UK headquarters calendar, and the US employer confirms that 5 July is an ordinary working day for this employee. The local-policy option no longer requires a US holiday exception. The buyer can favour the provider whose written arrangement and workflow reflect that agreed schedule most simply. Remote’s published standard US EOR holiday policy would still need a specific explanation before selection; it cannot be assumed to adopt the buyer’s calendar. Foothold America’s employment-letter route becomes particularly relevant for a US-only hire. Teamed remains our pick for the two-office team when its local employer confirms the schedule and named communication owner.

Send three invitations with the same case

Invite Teamed and Foothold America for the UK → US employee. Invite Remote as the third comparison if a fixed US EOR holiday calendar is acceptable. Bring Deel into the final two or three instead of Remote when a shared HR and time-off workflow is the deciding requirement. For the US → UK employee, compare Teamed, Remote and Deel on their actual UK employer arrangements; the cited Foothold EOR offer does not cover that side of the decision.

Send each invited provider the employee’s location, current holiday clause, both proposed dates, the coverage need and the two headquarters approval contacts. Require the response to identify who confirms the employment answer, who sends it to the employee and what record closes the conflicting-calendar case. Ask for one redacted example or a written walkthrough that returns the applicable calendar, who makes the employment decision, who tells the employee, the last safe approval time, the full charge and the record that proves completion. Ask finance for the payroll funding currency and date, without assuming a holiday change creates a currency conversion. Teamed publishes EOR pricing from $599 per employee per month and zero markup on payroll currency conversion; every bidder still needs to price this employee, any policy change and the relevant currency leg in its own quote.

Choose the provider that can put the correct local answer and the coverage handoff in writing before the first conflicting holiday. For a lean team that wants a person to carry that employment answer across both offices, Teamed is the first choice to test and the final-shortlist pick when its proposed US and UK arrangements confirm the case.

Continue with this desk

These are intended desk routes for related decisions; their availability should be checked when this publication launches.

• UK–US payroll and approval overlap planner — when the same office closure also affects funding or payroll approval.
• When headquarters is asleep: design the employee escalation handoff — when the employee needs an answer outside headquarters hours.
• Teamed, Remote, Deel and G-P for a two-office UK–US team — for the broader two-office provider decision.