More time off is scheduled to be available this holiday seasonas 58% of employers are providing at least three paid days off, ajump from 42% from 2011-2012 and 36% in 2010-2011, according to asurvey by Bloomberg BNA.

Another 51% of respondents report making Christmas Eve Day apaid day off. For the manufacturing industry, 85% of respondentsare offering at least three paid days off during the holiday seasonwhile 52% of respondents from nonmanufacturing companies and 51% ofrespondents from nonbusiness organizations also plan to do so.

Among the respondents with fewer than 1,000 employees, 65% aregiving employees three or more paid days off, but only 48% ofrespondents from larger organizations are offering that same timeoff. Roughly four out of 10 respondents say at least a fewemployees must work Dec. 25, Jan. 1 or both. Thirty-fourpercent of respondents expect to schedule Christmas work shifts,and 38% of respondents plan on employees working New Year'sDay.

When it comes to gifts and bonuses, 45% of respondents saythey are providing gifts or bonuses to some or all employees, whichremains almost unchanged from last holiday season when 46% ofrespondents did so. Still, this is a jump from the record low of33% in 2009. For clients and business associates, 77% ofrespondents impose formal rules on gift acceptance while 25% ofrespondents completely ban gifts.

More respondents are hosting holiday celebrations at 74%, upfrom 67% in 2009, and 55% of respondents are offering companywideevents, an increase from 50% in 2009. Of the respondents holdingholiday celebrations, 86% are paying for the entire cost, but only48% are allowing guests.

Sixty-three percent of respondents are serving alcohol at theircelebrations, marking an increase from 55% from 2011-2012 and 56%from 2010-2011. Even though more respondents are serving alcohol,they are still being careful as 84% of respondents have at leastone measure in place to prevent excessive consumption or protectguests. Among the precautions are time limits, cab services anddiscounted hotel rates.

Charitable activities are also popular this holiday season as63% of respondents are sponsoring some type of organization. Fortypercent of respondents are supporting toy collections for needychildren while 37% of respondents are hosting food collections.Another 16% of respondents are collecting money, and one in fiverespondents is sponsoring clothing drives.

This article was originally posted at BenefitsPro.com, a sister siteof Credit Union Times.