Getting screwed on our country's birthday!

At one of my former papers, when a holiday would fall on a weekend, they would designate both days as a chance to get holiday pay for the workers.

If they worked the fourth and were off the fifth, they still got the holiday pay, then they didn't paid for the day off, and vice versa. But if they worked both days, they could only claim the holiday pay for one day, and their regular pay for the other day.

When you think about it, it's more fair. Kickoff's company should (should being the operative word) have the common sense (yeah, right) to know that there are employees who work on the weekends, and be flexible in how they designate the holiday pay.

Or, they could just do away with the holiday pay, and then deal with employees calling in sick all the time.

 

Doesn't have to do with being six years old. People have barbecues with their friends. People like doing fun stuff with their kids on those days. I love seeing my kids' faces at our annual July 4 parade and the fireworks.

So yeah, grownups can enjoy the July 4 celebration just as much as the 6-year-olds.

 

Gotta agree with the mustang here ... this isn't a business for bankers' hours. Still remember one shop when I was covering the juco baseball playoffs while the company was in a no overtime mood. It came down to the if game and I happened to bump into the city editor between games. She said something about no OT and I said "Fine ... I'll leave in the third inning."

 

True, this isn't a business with banker's hours. But still, the company should (and there's that word again) have a consistent policy so that no employee gets screwed over because their mandated schedule is different than everyone else's.

And good for you for telling your boss that you would leave in the third inning. I'll bet she was counting on you to stay the extra time for free.

 

No corporate suits in the office is plenty of incentive to work weekends and holidays. Sure beats hearing doors to glass offices click behind you as the bigwigs decide where to move their pawns (or which pawns to throw overboard).

But if I was a corporate suit who was ordered to lay off 20 percent of my staff . . . you've made my choice a little easier with the "huge incentive to call in sick" attitude. Maybe it's because I've worked 25 years at my shop without ever calling in sick. But I get offended by that shit. Day's work for a day's pay. If you're sick, fine. If not, you work.

And let's say you have an emergency plumbing problem this Sunday and need to call an expert. First place you call quotes you a price of $80. Next place quotes you a price of $120. "Why so high?" you ask. "Because Sunday's our nation's bithday, and I'm paying my workers time and a half" is the response.

Who are you going to call to service your plumbing? Welcome to the world of corporate decision making.

 

I was half-joking, but luckily, she wasn't my immediate supervisor. I stayed the whole game knowing the sports editor would take care of it somehow ... and he did. I've moved on, the sports editor has moved on to his reward, the city editor is out of the business and now I have an ME who budgets for OT, if needed, during the playoffs.

 

Agree with all who've said, hey, among the woes of journalism, this ranks pretty low.

I'd say having to work Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving, and missing family gatherings like that is worse than missing a Fourth of July barbecue or fireworks show. It's part of the gig, unfortunately.

My real gripe about being a weekend/second shift worker: Do they really have to schedule every vacuuming, floor scrubbing and Rug Doctor power cleaning during evening or Saturday afternoon hours, when we're trying to put the paper together and take phone calls? I'd love to see how the advertising/business side would react if they had that kind of noise going on during their shift.

 

What does March 1 have to do with this thread?

 

I have to work on Monday to close a magazine. Such is life.

At least I have a job in this godforsaken economy.

 

I work a 9-5 now so I don't have the problem anymore. I used to have the same issue arise occasionally and it was annoying, but nothing I obsessed over. It is what it is. Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not.

My wife works at a hospital and she has the same issue still. Of course, she makes more money than newspaper slaves so that softens the blow.

A job is a valuable thing to have right now. Look at it that way.

 

Due to a scheduling quirk and the fact that I was low man on the totem pole, I had to work Thanksgiving night, Christmas Eve, Christmas night and New Years Eve one year. I got New Years Day night off, which was really nice of them.

Now THAT pissed me off. I didn't want the holiday pay by the end of that stretch.