Dear GG: comp day with off or without off

Question

Dear Grammar Geek ,Thank you very much for your help ,but I still don't understand the sentences you wrote to me :1/ Because they worked on Sunday, they were given Monday as a [comp day] [compensatory day off]. Do you mean" ....Monday as a comp day off or ....Monday as a compensatory day off " ? or just " comp day ( without off ) "? while compensatory day must goes with off ?2/ I'm taking Monday as my comp [compensatory] day for working on Sunday. Why don't we say :a/ "  I'm taking Monday as my comp [compensatory] day off for working on Sunday."  " instead of  " I'm taking Monday as my comp [compensatory] day for working on Sunday" (without OFF )or:b/  I'm taking Monday off as my comp [compensatory] day for working on Sunday.? 3/ Our  office will observe "name of holiday" on Monday. Can we say : a/ Our office will have  /take Monday off as a comp  day for Sunday                     b/ Our office will  have /take Monday as a comp  day off for Sunday 4/ I was not at work Monday because that was my comp day for working Sunday.Why don't we say :" I was not ...... because that was my comp day off for working Sunday" insteasd of ".....that was my comp day for working Sunday ".( without OFF )?Please kindly explain when we use comp day off and when we have to use comp day without " off "Your help is highly appreciatedBest regards

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Sorry Tuongvan,

Ruslana was kind enough to direct my attention to this post. I had somehow missed it.

1/ Because they worked on Sunday, they were given Monday as a [comp day] [compensatory day off].

Do you mean" ....Monday as a comp day ~~off~~ or ....Monday as a compensatory day off " ? or just " comp day ( without off ) "? while compensatory day must goes with off ?

It's not very precise. Certain as "a comp day" you don't need off. It's understood. You can go either way with the longer form. Again, I want to stress this is American business use. I saw another post used "in lieu" which is not used here, so I stayed away from the thread at that point.

2/ I'm taking Monday as my comp [compensatory] day for working on Sunday.

Why don't we say :

a/ " I'm taking Monday as my comp [compensatory] day off for working on Sunday." " instead of " I'm taking Monday as my comp [compensatory] day for working on Sunday" (without OFF )

or:

b/ I'm taking Monday off as my comp [compensatory] day for working on Sunday.? -- This seems quite natural to me. I'm taking Monday off as my comp day. However, you can also omit the "off" - the meaning is quite clear. The very idea of a comp day is that you are off from work, so the off is redundant.

3/ Our office will observe "name of holiday" on Monday.

Can we say : a/ Our office will have /take Monday off as a comp day for Sunday -- Only if the entire office worked on Sunday. A comp day is when you work extra hours beyond what you were scheduled. You either need to be paid for them (as well as any over time) or you need to get time off equal to what you worked. It is NOT related to holidays that fall on a weekend.

b/ Our office will have /take Monday as a comp day off for Sunday -- No, this is not at all natural.

4/ I was not at work Monday because that was my comp day for working Sunday. -- This sounds very natural

Why don't we say :" I was not ...... because that was my comp day off for working Sunday" insteasd of ".....that was my comp day for working Sunday ".( without OFF )?

Please kindly explain when we use comp day off and when we have to use comp day without " off " -- As I said before, the off is redundant. It's common to refer to "taking time off" or "I'll take Monday off" but the "off" does not go with the phrase "comp day."

If you want to post a couple other sentences, I'll tell you whether they sound natural in American business jargon. Now that I've posted here, it will show up in "my threads" and I'll see it more quickly!

Tuongvan · Answer

Thank you Grammar Geek very much.

From what you explained , am I right when I say : a comp day = a compensatory day off ?

Just to be sure , please kindly tell me whether this translation sound natural or not:

In my country office workers are allowed to have/take 02 days off at weekends ( Saturday and Sunday). If a public holiday falls on one of these off days /days off , they ( office workers ) will take Monday as a comp day . For example , If Independence Day is Saturday , the office workers will take/have the next / following Monday off as a compensatory day / comp day . .

By the way , can I use comp day in plural ?

Example :Because we worked on Saturday and Sunday , We had Tuesday and Wednesday off as compensatory days / comp days.

Your taking a lot of trouble to help correct my translation is highly appreciated.

Thank you ever so much in advance

BarbaraPA · Answer

The first part isn't right to my ear. You don't get a comp day for the holiday becuase you didn't work on it. Instead, you observe the holiday on the working day.

If a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, we observe the holiday on Monday and enjoy a three-day weekend.

Yes, you can have comp days in plural.

The second part is okay.

Tuongvan · Answer

Hello Grammar Geek !

I understand now , but If you say ":If a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, we observe the holiday on Monday and enjoy a three-day weekend." , I am afraid people might misunderstand that we , for some reason , celebrate the public holiday late on Monday ( in reality we do celebrate it on Saturday if it falls on Saturday or celebrate it on Sunday if it falls on Sunday ). The reason we have Monday off is that Monday is just the replacement holiday for Saturday.

Hopefully it is clear to you , so that you can help me with an exact translation.

Your help is highly appreciated

Best wishes

BarbaraPA · Answer

You still can't call it a comp day. I see that you're continuing to use that in the other thread and it's wrong!

No one will be confused and think that you are "celebrating" the holiday on Monday. Your office is closed in observance of the holiday.

Our office will be closed on Monday, January 21, in observance of Indepdence Day, which falls on Saturday, January 19.

When a public holiday falls on a weekend, our office will be closed the following Monday.

Tuongvan · Answer

Dear Grammar Geek,

I understand now . We don't use " comp day / compensatory day " in case a public holiday falls on any of our regular day off , but must use " observe Christmas or the like on the working day " , right ?.

But I see this sentence in another thread (monalisatuan )wriitten by Avangi :

Christmas falls on Saturday, which is our day off, so we are entitled to take Monday [off] as a comp day.

Is this sentence right or wrong ?

By the way , I want to ask you about the sentences I received from Singapore recenly . Please tell me whether they are ok or not .( In Singapore there are many types of public holidays :Muslim holiday , Christian holiday and so on ..At that time their public holiday falls on Saturday , so they enjoyed a 3 -day weekend)

1/ Please be informed that our Support for SAP System in Vietnam is only available on Tuesday because of replacement holiday for Saturday .( from Singapore )

2/ Singapore office will be closed on Monday Oct. 15 , This is in lieu of the public holiday , which falls on Saturday.( from Singapore)

3/ Workers at State administrative agencies will be paid double the normal rate if they are required to work on holidays and are not offered compensation days-off ( My translation )

Your help is highly appreciated

Best wishes

BarbaraPA · Answer

I understand now . We don't use " comp day / compensatory day " in case a public holiday falls on any of our regular day off , but must use " observe Christmas or the like on the working day " , right ?.

A few notes on other things. Don't leave a space before the punctuation mark. It goes right next to the letter. If you have a ? then that is the end of the sentence. Don't use a period after it.

Yes, you are correct. We do NOT use comp day for the day off when the holiday falls on a weekend.

But I see this sentence in another thread (monalisatuan )wriitten by Avangi :

Christmas falls on Saturday, which is our day off, so we are entitled to take Monday [off] as a comp day.

Is this sentence right or wrong ? I must respectfully disagree with Avangi; I have never heard comp day used like this. But perhaps he has.

By the way , I want to ask you about the sentences I received from Singapore recenly . Please tell me whether they are ok or not .( In Singapore there are many types of public holidays :Muslim holiday , Christian holiday and so on ..At that time their public holiday falls on Saturday , so they enjoyed a 3 -day weekend)

1/ Please be informed that our Support for SAP System in Vietnam is only available on Tuesday because of replacement holiday for Saturday .( from Singapore ) I have heard the phrse "replacement holiday" before. This seems okay.

2/ Singapore office will be closed on Monday Oct. 15 , This is in lieu of the public holiday , which falls on Saturday.( from Singapore) This seems fine too.

3/ Workers at State administrative agencies will be paid double the normal rate if they are required to work on holidays and are not offered compensation days-off ( My translation ) This seems okay too. In this case, they ARE working on a day off, so comp day makes sense. I'm not sure about the hyphen in days off. I would not use it.

I hope this helps.

Tuongvan · Answer

Thank you Grammar Geek for having taken a lot of time to help me understand this complicated issue

Kind regards

BarbaraPA · Answer

And just for fun, I want to say again -- American business use. Things like "comp day" will be different in different cultures, etc.

Dear GG: comp day with off or without off

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