They want us to work when?!

[tropicsgoddess]

Because Christmas falls on a day I'm normally scheduled to work on, I have to work that day...same for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Sucks but on the bright side, I'll be working from home and get some of the day to spend with my loved ones (I work second shift). Sure beats counting down till midnight in a cubicle (which I had to do on my first job since I was scheduled to work graveyard shift). I do tech support so there's always problems and that never stops. However, I do have to say that the OP's employers are making an incredibly stupid decision and mistake of making employees work on a holiday as opposed to asking for volunteers or closing for it.

[Pagan]

It is a shame that employees are now seen as disposable devices that can be used up and thrown away like any other asset the company would buy. I'm really proud of the Target guy who started the petition to not open at midnight. They are close to 100k signatures now http://www.change.org/petitions/tell...e-thanksgiving

I just signed that petition. This opening earlier and earlier and on Thanksgiving is getting stupid.

I really don't want to even see grocery stores open. If you've run out of or didn't get blah ingredient, that's your problem. Teach you to make and follow a list next time. Get on the interwebs, you can usually find something that will work as a substitute.

[bhskittykatt]

That sucks. Most grocery stores around here are open limited hours on holidays, if at all.

At the motel, we have to be staffed 24/7, but we try to schedule it so each employee gets either Thanksgiving OR Christmas off, and let employees choose which one of the two they want.

[Fish Taco64]

My store is open on Thanksgiving and I will be working in the morning, listening to idiots ask why on earth we are open. I will be missing my Thanksgiving meal, which we have to have in the late morning, due to my mother having to be at work at Kohl's at 11pm.

[EricKei]

I do take issue with being open for a holiday and not asking for volunteers first. I would not like being scheduled to work it, but I wouldn't mind volunteering for it.
...
I hope they come to their senses and at least let people volunteer first.

Ya see, this is the way to go. For holidays that are religious or religious-esque, maybe people who do not celebrate that holiday would wanna work. For ones which are (at least in theory) secular, like Thanksgiving, maybe some people either don't feel like going to do stuff with other people, or want to but lack the means to readily do so, and would be willing to work those days. Better to ask who WANTS to work those days first, than to force people to choose between work and family.

It is a shame that employees are now seen as disposable devices that can be used up and thrown away like any other asset the company would buy.

"Now seen"...? Sadly, this is nothing new. Believe me, I've been there. Often.

listening to idiots ask why on earth we are open

I wish I wish I wish that I could get away with responding to a question like this with something along the lines of "We're open because of people like YOU. YOU, Sir/Madam, are part of the problem!"

[amazins20]

I'm working ALL the holidays this season. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year's Eve and Day. Hooray!!! </sarcasm>

I'm sorry. I did that last year and it was miserable. The only (small) consolation was the extra money.

[ADoyle90815]

I'm scheduled to work on Thanksgiving this year, but at least it's a morning shift so I won't miss dinner like I did when I worked at K-Mart on that day. The only consolation that year was the money, but I decided not to sign up to come in on Christmas Day to help take down the seasonal items which at least, the store was officially closed, and people volunteered to come in that day.

This year, Christmas Day happens to fall on a day that I normally have off, so I won't be scheduled to work that day. The only reason I was scheduled for Thanksgiving this year is that I'm usually scheduled on Thursdays anyway.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I'll be working Christmas Eve, probably until about 6 - I think that's when we closed last year. And I'll be working New Year's Eve but at least I get out at 8. Not that we usually do anything special...kind of a bummer.

[pzychobitch]

I'd walk out of a job if they told me to do that. Hell, I walked away from Target once I heard they were opening at midnight on black friday.

[Shalom]

I just signed that petition. This opening earlier and earlier and on Thanksgiving is getting stupid.

I'd sign it myself, except that I want to leave open the option of working for them someday.

I really don't want to even see grocery stores open. If you've run out of or didn't get blah ingredient, that's your problem. Teach you to make and follow a list next time. Get on the interwebs, you can usually find something that will work as a substitute.

Back in '98, I worked overnights at Rong Aid. This was a 24 hour store, so it was open no matter what holiday it was. Night before Thanksgiving, about 25 to midnight, a guy comes in and asked me if we had any of those big roasting pans. Seems his girlfriend had just decided in the middle of the night that she wanted to roast a turkey for Thanksgiving. Problem was, all we had left were those loaf-sized pans and a few glass casseroles that weren't anywhere near big enough. I did suggest the A&P in the next town that was open until midnight, but he didn't want to go all the way up there, so I sold him a nice Polish ham instead.

(True, I'm Jewish. So what? He wasn't. No reason not to sell non-kosher meat to non-Jews.)

I'm working 12 hours this Thanksgiving myself. When you're only getting part-time hours, you grab what you can, where and when you can. This store is in an insular Hasidic community that has little contact with the outside world, so it's just basically a regular day for them. (Every Jewish holiday is a Thanksgiving for one thing or another, and there's a prayer of thanksgiving included in the prayer service we say three times daily (text here if anyone's interested), so I guess we didn't need a separate holiday only for that.)

[Andara Bledin]

I've worked Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve.

But that was back when I worked for Medieval Times, which is an entertainment venue, and someplace that is expected to be open on holidays. And they paid double time for anyone working, despite them not paying holiday pay normally.

^-.-^

[EricKei]

The Mart of Wal in the mid-sized town I went to for TG this year solved the Black Friday Rush problem by simply not closing for TG at all. They're a 24 Hour store ... which means that, as with many 24-Hour establishments, that doing so is essentially an hand-written invite for thieves ~_~