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Holiday working

Discussion in 'Tilted Philosophy, Politics, and Economics' started by Tully Mars, Nov 28, 2013.

  1. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    Many stories such as this has started my brain thinking a little -

    Pizza Hut reinstates manager fired after refusing to open Thanksgiving - NBC News.com
    Which contains-


    I have to admit I basically thought the good news is you got your job back, bad news is you still work at Pizza Hut. But a job s a job and good for him standing up for his employees. Lucky for him his story went national and corporate had to make what I'm assuming is a PR move and demand the franchise hire him back. Demand, strongly suggest... whatever.

    But right after this story is-


    There's a photo of a Best Buy Store but no mention of the company in the article, no idea if they're open but I'd assume they are. So...

    1. Do you shop on holidays?

    2. Do you have to work on holidays?

    3. Do you think it's a good idea for store to be open on holidays?

    Myself I used to work almost every holiday except Thanksgiving because my family traditions didn't interfere with Christmas or New Years. I didn't work Thanksgiving because it always fell during elk season and I had that week penned in on the schedule as soon as I had the seniority to get it off. I worked Christmas because my kid knew by age 5-6 Santa was just a nice story and we, like my parents, opened presents on Christmas Eve. New Years day and New Years eve was always for amateur drinkers and I just preferred to work rather then deal with drunks who can't handle their booze. Plus those days pay overtime... a lot of overtime.

    I don't think I've ever shopped on Thanksgivings but I have flown on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. The airport and planes were always nearly empty and the airfare was really cheap. I tried to fly this year on thanksgiving and could not find a decent deal. So I guess I would fly but wouldn't shop. I feel like the businesses that are opening are not really treating their employees with much respect. Some occupations like law enforcement, travel, utilities etc... have to have some staff. But stores? Is there really a need to shop on a holiday? I wonder how much they'd really lose if they let their employees have the day and just open the day before and the day after?

    Thoughts?
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2013
  2. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I've had to work on Thanksgiving in the past. It was my first Thanksgiving with my husband's family, actually. I threw freight at Target that Christmas season, and we were required to work Thanksgiving morning to set the store for Black Friday. It was fine--I was out of there by 10am, and they fed us a nice buffet.

    It just goes to show--it doesn't matter if they're open on Thanksgiving or not--they might be getting prepared for Friday anyway. In my mind, you've got to do what you've got to do to get and keep a job. If that means working on Thanksgiving, so be it.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  3. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    My Ex decorated cakes for a national chain store and any holiday work always included a big ass buffet in the break room. I always made my way there on my breaks somehow during the holidays.
     
  4. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    I've worked many a holiday but if you work in health care that's a given.
    I'm well compensated and have nothing to complain about.
    I also as a non-Christian almost always work Christmas. This makes my Christian colleagues happy, and gives me a better chance of being off when I really want to be which is Thanksgiving.
    My heart goes out to those in retail and other low reward jobs who had family traditions that were shit on by the need for Americans to start Shopmas spending on Thanksgiving Day.
     
  5. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    1. I don't shop on holidays. If I had an urgent need to purcahse a necessity (hot water tank, for example) I would shop on a holiday.

    2. Never had to work on a holiday. Back when I worked in retail holidays were still honored, and IIRC even Burger King closed for TG.

    3. Some stores might need to be open on holidays to remain competitive. It's not good, but might be necessary.

    My theory on working retail and in restaurants is one should know going in, at least as a new low level employee, to expect to kiss nights, weekends, & holidays goodbye.
     
  6. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    My attitude is this...certain jobs require work at certain times. (including holidays)

    But this could be said also for weekends, grave-yard shifts, 12 hour shifts...and so on.

    If you don't like it...find something else.
    This is why you work hard to get up in life...because those who do have more options.
    This is why you live in a location with more options.

    It's not just retail...it's also medical (incl. docs), govt., military, infrastructure, emergency, restaurant, etc, etc, etc...
    They all often require 24/7 support, or at least beyond M-F, 9-5

    I don't feel sorry for them...they're getting paid. (and perhaps more at that for those days...)

    At this company, we don't get the day after T-day off...or Xmas eve...but other companies, I did. (and paid too.)
    But at this one, I get every federal holiday off...including those that many work on. (Ex. Columbus day.)

    Just like right now, I'm considering changing jobs because they have decided to move offices...making the commute just insane. (and no, I can't just move...)
    I can't change their minds...so I have to decide if it's something important to me. Life is short.
    But at least, I've put myself in a situation where I have options. (and I did this, just because of things like this)

    Sure, wouldn't it be nice?
    But wouldn't it be nice for a lot of things.

    Why don't you just let me work 2 hours a day, 2 days a week, with a button to push?
    It's not the Jetsons. :rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2013
  7. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    Well I don't get extra holiday pay. And I will be covering the roads on christmas eve and day from 6 pm to 4 am. Hopefully I can bag a drunk either night. I do get ten state holidays a year, just never on the actual day because of our rotations. In college I stocked shelves at toys r us for the Christmas holidays overnight. All the way to about three am on Christmas morning, getting ready for all the returns on the 26th.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  8. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    Bag some "texting" drivers while you're at. Assholes really piss me off.

    (I typed this while driving)
     
  9. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    One of my friends works retail and chose to work on Thanksgiving. I ran into him yesterday while out buying some quick groceries. He said that in general, Thanksgiving is quiet and the pay makes it worth it. He's got enough seniority to choose to have it off if he wants. I understand that attitude. Time and a half is tempting!
     
  10. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    Your friend needs to get one of those kush ass gov-r-mint jobs. I used to get 3 1/2x on holidays. The state changed the rules in the late 90's so the most you could get was 2 1/2X... still not bad.
     
  11. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    Grandpa worked as a lineman for the company that is now CenturyLink. He made amazing overtime on holidays, so he usually volunteered to work if there were outages. I guess there was one time there was a really bad outage right around Christmas, and another at New Years, and he made enough in overtime to pay for a boat.
     
  12. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    Early on, prior to finishing my Bach and becoming a parole officer, I used to work holidays for the 3 1/2X and take it as comp. time rather then pay. One days work meant a nearly a week off if planned during a right. after being promoted to a parole position I took all as pay because I routinely lost vacation and comp time, just wasn't anyone to fill in for me if I took time off.
     
  13. Spiritsoar

    Spiritsoar Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    New York
    When I used to do scheduling at the ER, it was pretty common for nurses to be asking to work holidays for the overtime pay. Which was nice, because it meant I could schedule more of the military workers off (military obviously gets no overtime)
     
    • Like Like x 1
  14. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    I don't get weekends or holidays or overtime. I also don't get to pick my schedule. I'm basically a toddler with a bank account.

    I do, however, feel like the US has way too many holidays that are basically meaningless because XYZ businesses are still open.

    One of the interesting things about traveling is how cities in other countries literally shut down for an entire day. Unbelievable.

    It would seem that the instant gratification generation can't go 24 hours without ____. Americans are so "busy" doing nothing.

    ...

    HAHAHA. Hahaha. Hah-hah. Hah.

    Heh.​
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2013
    • Like Like x 1