# AI Receptionist Holiday Hours: How to Handle Thanksgiving and Christmas Calls (2026)

Author: Kris Hubbard
Published: November 1, 2026
Updated: November 1, 2026
Canonical: https://wrkless.com/blog/ai-receptionist-holiday-hours

**Short answer:** An AI receptionist doesn't know your holidays unless you tell it. Most tools run on a weekly schedule, so Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, 2026 looks like a normal Thursday: the business-hours greeting plays and the "let me transfer you" option rings a phone nobody is watching. Fix it by deciding open or closed with a rule you control (a holiday list or calendar), switching transfers off on closed days, recording a holiday greeting that says when you reopen, and sending every message to a named person for the next business day. Jobber Receptionist and GoHighLevel Voice AI need a manual change before each holiday. A Retell receptionist can check a holiday list on every call.

At Wrk Less we build AI receptionists, mostly on Retell, with n8n handling what happens after each call. Before writing this we pulled the calls on the client voice lines we manage to see when callers actually reach the receptionist. The answer changes how you should plan for holidays.

## When do callers actually reach an AI receptionist?

We pulled every call on those client lines through Retell's API for October 12 to 31, 2026. Leaving out spam and calls where nobody really spoke, 106 callers had a real conversation with the receptionist. **99 of the 106 came in on a weekday between 8 AM and 5 PM local time.** Only 3 came in on a weekend.

By day, Wednesday (30) and Thursday (27) were the busiest. These lines forward to the receptionist when the team can't pick up, so most of the work happens during the business day, while people are on jobs or on other calls.

That's why holidays matter more than weekends. A weekend is already quiet and already handled by your after-hours setup. Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday and Christmas on a Friday, which are normal busy weekdays to any weekly schedule. Callers expect you to be open, your receptionist thinks you're open, and nobody is there.

## 2026 holiday dates to put on the list

These are the dates most small businesses close or shorten hours. Federal dates come from OPM; the early-close days are examples from the National Archives schedule, which closes its research rooms at 1 p.m. local time on those days.

| Date | Holiday | What to set |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, November 25 | Day before Thanksgiving | Early close, if you shorten hours |
| Thursday, November 26 | Thanksgiving Day | Closed greeting, no transfers |
| Friday, November 27 | Day after Thanksgiving | Your call: many trades stay open |
| Thursday, December 24 | Christmas Eve | Early close, if you shorten hours |
| Friday, December 25 | Christmas Day | Closed greeting, no transfers |
| Thursday, December 31 | New Year's Eve | Early close, if you shorten hours |
| Friday, January 1, 2027 | New Year's Day | Closed greeting, no transfers |

Add your own: inventory days, staff training, the week you're short-handed. Anything that changes who can answer the phone belongs on the list.

## How do Jobber, GoHighLevel and Retell handle holiday hours?

| Platform | Built-in hours control | Holiday dates? | What to do before a holiday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber Receptionist | Business hours toggle gives a separate business-hours and after-hours greeting, each with its own phone menu | Not described in Jobber's help article (updated October 28, 2026) | Edit the business-hours greeting and remove "speak with someone" from its phone menu for the day, or point escalation at whoever is on call |
| GoHighLevel Voice AI | Working Hours on the Deploy tab: All Hours or a Custom Schedule by day | The setup steps describe a weekly schedule by day, and HighLevel says the AI won't update its working hours on its own | Change the schedule or the number's call flow before the holiday, test, and change it back after |
| Retell | Time variables such as `{{current_hour}}` plus logic split nodes, the inbound call webhook, or a code node | No holiday calendar built in; Retell's own after-hours guide says to pass an `office_open` value from your calendar | Keep a holiday list your system checks on every call, so nobody has to remember |
| Carrier call forwarding | Many carriers forward after a set number of rings or outside business hours | Depends on the carrier | Check whether "outside business hours" includes holidays; if not, change forwarding for the day |

**Jobber.** When voice calls are on, Receptionist answers every call to your dedicated number. Tasks from after-hours calls are scheduled for the following day. Jobber's help article doesn't describe holiday dates, though, so expect a holiday during your normal hours to get the business-hours greeting and phone menu. If that menu offers a transfer, the caller gets your empty desk. For costs, see our [Jobber AI receptionist pricing breakdown](/blog/jobber-ai-receptionist-pricing).

**GoHighLevel.** Working Hours decide when the Voice AI answers; outside them, the call follows the number's own routing, forwarding, timeout and voicemail. That makes the holiday plan a two-part job: the agent schedule and the number's fallback. HighLevel's own launch checklist includes "Working hours and after-hours behavior are correct." More on the platform in our [GoHighLevel AI receptionist guide](/blog/gohighlevel-ai-receptionist-2026).

**Retell.** Retell's time variables use the agent's time zone, which defaults to America/Los_Angeles if it isn't set. Set it first. For a business in Orlando or Nashville, an unset time zone puts every open/closed check hours off.

## How to set up holiday hours on a Retell receptionist

This is the setup we recommend, because nobody has to log in the night before Thanksgiving to flip a switch.

1. **Set the agent's time zone** to the business's time zone, or use a named variable like `{{current_hour_America/New_York}}`.
2. **Keep the holiday list where the owner already works**, usually a Google Sheet or calendar: date, closed or early close, closing time, reopening day, and the on-call number if there is one.
3. **Answer the inbound call webhook with n8n.** Retell sends the webhook before the call connects. The workflow checks today's date against the list and returns dynamic variables such as `office_open`, `holiday_name`, `reopen_day` and `on_call_number`. It can also return a different agent ID, so closed-day calls go to an agent with no transfer tool at all.
4. **Branch on the value, not on the model's judgment.** In a conversation flow, a logic split node at the start routes on `{{office_open}}` before the receptionist says anything. Equation conditions run before prompt conditions and don't involve the model.
5. **Only the open branch can transfer.** The closed branch takes a message and says when someone will call back. Real emergencies go to `{{on_call_number}}` with a warm transfer, which waits 30 seconds by default for a person before it gives up.
6. **Plan for the webhook failing.** Retell waits up to 10 seconds per attempt and tries 3 times in total. If all fail, it connects the call to the number's inbound agent. Make that default agent the safe one: it takes messages and doesn't promise a transfer.

If you'd like this built and tested on your number, that's our [Retell integrations and webhooks](/retell-ai-integrations-and-webhooks.php) work.

## What should a holiday greeting say?

Three things, in this order: you're closed today, when you reopen, and what the caller can do now.

> "Thanks for calling Bright Pool Service. We're closed today for Thanksgiving and back Friday at 8 AM. I can take a message and make sure someone calls you back first thing, or if water is leaking right now, I can reach the person on call."

Keep it short. Our [greeting script guide](/blog/ai-receptionist-greeting-script) covers why the first few seconds decide whether a caller stays. Then make the message count: name, callback number read back, reason and urgency, as we lay out in [AI receptionist message taking](/blog/ai-receptionist-message-taking). For when a closed-day call should still reach a person, see [AI receptionist transfer to a human](/blog/ai-receptionist-transfer-to-human).

## Holiday checklist for an AI receptionist

- [ ] Holiday and early-close dates for November 2026 through January 2027 are on one list
- [ ] The receptionist's time zone matches the business
- [ ] Closed days use a closed greeting that names the reopening day and time
- [ ] Transfers are off on closed days, except a written emergency list
- [ ] The on-call number for each holiday is on the list, not typed into the prompt
- [ ] Messages from closed days land with a named person for the next business day
- [ ] Missed-call texts still follow your consent rules (see [missed call text back rules](/blog/missed-call-text-back-tcpa-2026))
- [ ] You've test-called the line with the holiday setting on, and again after switching it off
- [ ] Someone is down to read the holiday messages before the phones open the next morning

For trades that already get emergency calls at night, our [after-hours answering guide for plumbers and HVAC](/blog/after-hours-answering-service-plumbers-hvac) goes deeper on urgent calls.

## Want your holiday hours handled before Thanksgiving?

We'll look at how your line is set up today, add your holiday dates, and test the closed-day path end to end, including what happens when a transfer has nobody to reach. See our [after-hours AI call answering](/after-hours-ai-call-answering.php) service, or [book your AI systems assessment](https://cal.com/kris-hubbard-wrk-less/ai-systems-assessment).

## Questions people ask

### Does an AI receptionist know when my business is closed for a holiday?

Not unless you tell it. Most AI receptionists follow a weekly schedule, so Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, 2026 looks like any other Thursday. Put your holiday dates on a list your system checks, or change the schedule and greeting by hand before each holiday.

### How do I set holiday hours in GoHighLevel Voice AI?

Open the agent in AI Agents > Voice AI, go to the Deploy tab, and change Working Hours for the holiday, then check the phone number's call flow, forwarding and voicemail, because calls outside working hours follow that route. HighLevel says the AI won't update its working hours on its own, so set a reminder to change it back.

### Can Jobber Receptionist use a different greeting on holidays?

Jobber's Business hours toggle gives you a business-hours greeting and an after-hours greeting, each with its own phone menu. Jobber's help article doesn't describe holiday dates, so before a holiday edit the business-hours greeting to say you're closed, and remove the speak-with-someone option or point escalation at whoever is on call.

### What should an AI receptionist do on Thanksgiving?

Say you're closed today, say when you reopen, and offer to take a message for a callback first thing. Turn transfers off except for a short written list of emergencies that go to the person on call. Make sure someone reads the messages before the phones open the next morning.

### What happens if the holiday check fails on a Retell call?

Retell waits up to 10 seconds for the inbound call webhook and tries 3 times in total. If every attempt fails, it connects the call to the number's inbound agent, or disconnects if none is set. Make that default agent a safe one that takes messages and doesn't offer transfers.

## Sources

- https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/?year=2026
- https://www.archives.gov/news/federal-holidays
- https://help.getjobber.com/en/articles/receptionistpowered-by-jobber-ai/
- https://help.gohighlevel.com/support/solutions/articles/155000004139-how-to-set-working-hours-for-voice-ai-agents
- https://help.gohighlevel.com/support/solutions/articles/155000004107-how-to-create-voice-ai-agents
- https://docs.retellai.com/build/dynamic-variables
- https://docs.retellai.com/features/inbound-call-webhook
- https://docs.retellai.com/build/conversation-flow/logic-split-node
- https://docs.retellai.com/build/conversation-flow/transition-condition
- https://docs.retellai.com/build/conversation-flow/code-node
- https://www.retellai.com/blog/after-hours-calls-ticket-not-transfer
- Wrk Less call review, Retell API pull on Nov 1, 2026 of the client voice lines we manage (Tennessee businesses, Central time), Oct 12-31, 2026 (October 12 to 31, 2026): 320 calls; 42 spam; 278 non-spam; 106 non-spam calls where the caller had a real conversation (at least one caller turn of three or more words); 99 of the 106 on a weekday between 8 AM and 5 PM local time; 4 on a weekday before 8 AM or after 5 PM; 3 on a weekend; by day Wednesday 30, Thursday 27, Monday 19, Tuesday 16, Friday 11, Saturday 2, Sunday 1
- 2026 holiday dates checked Nov 1, 2026: OPM lists Thursday, November 26 Thanksgiving Day and Friday, December 25 Christmas Day; National Archives lists Wednesday, November 25, Thursday, December 24 and Thursday, December 31 as research rooms close at 1 p.m. local time, and Friday, January 1, 2027 New Year's Day. Wrk Less calendar note: the day after Thanksgiving is Friday, November 27, 2026; planning window November 2026 through January 2027
- Jobber Receptionist help article updated October 28, 2026: voice calls On means Receptionist answers every call to your dedicated phone number; Business hours toggle enables separate business-hours and after-hours greetings, each with its own phone menu (IVR), e.g. Press 4 to speak with someone during business hours; tasks from calls after business hours set for the following day; answering delay 10 seconds; most carriers allow forwarding after a certain number of rings or outside business hours; no holiday date setting described
- HighLevel help checked Nov 1, 2026: How to Set Working Hours for Voice AI Agents modified Aug 25, 2026 (Tue, 25 Aug, 2026): AI Agents > Voice AI > Deploy tab > Working Hours, All Hours or Custom Schedule with day chips, start and end time per active day, schedules can extend through midnight; FAQ: the AI will not automatically update its working hours, update manually. Create, Test, and Deploy a Voice AI Agent: Working Hours, Call Routing mode, forwarding, timeout, voicemail, and the phone number's call-flow configuration can affect routing; checklist item 'Working hours and after-hours behavior are correct.' Twilio numbers article: calls outside working hours should follow another route
- Retell docs checked Nov 1, 2026: {{current_hour}} and {{current_time}} use system_timezone, which defaults to the agent's timezone, or America/Los_Angeles if unset; {{current_hour_America/New_York}} style variables; inbound call webhook is sent before the call is connected, can override agent ID and set dynamic variables, default timeout 10 seconds per attempt, up to 3 total attempts, if all fail Retell connects the call to the number's inbound agent if set, otherwise disconnects; equation conditions evaluated before prompt conditions; Retell after-hours blog Oct 16, 2026 (October 16, 2026): pass an office_open value from your calendar through the inbound webhook, warm transfer waits 30 seconds by default, route emergencies to {{on_call_number}}