Only employees with kids get holidays?

[eyeheartgoofy]

That stinks and is not fair! They really need a concrete plan for determing who gets what off.

My DH works in a hospital and they rotate the actual holidays - if you work Christmas day in 2009, you get it off in 2010, etc. His supervisors are usually pretty good about making sure you have Christmas Eve off if you have to work Christmas day. While it stinks that DH has to work holidays, at least we can plan for them b/c we know the holiday rotation years in advance.

Now, trying to use any vacation time Christmas week is another story - vacation requests are based on a first come, first serve basis with seniority as the deciding factor in any "tie breaker" situations. You can apply for the vaction up to one year in advance - by the first week of January, you know if your Christmas vacation time for the following year has been approved or denied ... so, at least you can plan accordingly. DH faithfully puts in for the week between Christmas and New Years every single year ... every year, he is DENIED b/c people with more seniority put in for the same week. It is fair and we accept the policy, but we still try. It has almost become a joke when DH turns in that request form - I tell him we do it for the giggles.

 

[Nennie]

You are being discriminated against because of your family status, which is illegal. No differently than an employer refusing to hire someone with young children b/c the employer fears the employee will miss a lot of work due to child illness, etc.

Employers can't discriminate against those who don't have young childen, just like they can't discriminate against those who do.

I would address this with HR. If it isn't resolved, file with the EEOC. Also, if you were to file with the EEOC, and were terminated b/c of this, then you would have an excellent case for not only discrimination, but also for retaliation.

Hopefully someone with half a brain in the HR department will realize that it's illegal discrimination, and reverse the decision on holiday vacations.

Good luck!!!

 

[littlbugmom]

My dh is a firefighter who works 24 and 48 hour shifts. He misses a lot of holidays. He can put in for vacation on holidays but it goes by senority. In a major city, you can imagine how difficult it is to get a Christmas day off. My dh has 15yrs on and still doesn't get Christmas during the annual draw (they put in for those vacation days in January of each year) We don't expect him to get those big holidays until his senority number is higher. It sucks when he can't be here but the system is fair.


The system your boss has come up with is NOT. I don't blame you for being angry and I would definitely take this to HR.

 

[jessica52877]

I am there with you with the no days off thing and it stinks. Before I had a child I offered to work the holidays since there was no need for me to be home really. Yes, I would have enjoyed spending it with my husband but he was going to be working anyways.

Now that I have a child we still have never spent a holiday together. He is allowed no requested time off between Oct - Dec and it usually stretches through April when they have inventory because they start getting ready for it. And of course they go into 6 and 7 day work weeks. He has stretched it a bit himself and gotten the first week of October a few times. So this means he works fall break, thanksgiving, christmas, spring break and easter along with pretty much any other holiday that DS is home from school. It stinks!

He works retail and of course that is their busiest time of year and they don't give a crap what is going on in the employees life.

He actually quit last year and gave a 3 week notice and then took the week of Christmas off. It is so sad that it takes quitting and not having a job that week to have that day off. He of course had to get a new job and same thing all over again. Although hopefully and we'll see, being closed Christmas Day hopefully it will actually mean that he doesn't have to work. It never had before though.

I know how you feel and would give anything for him to be with us, even for just Halloween one year!

 

[seashoreCM]

1. There are badder bosses out there.

2. IMHO I'd let someone else blow the whistle on this one.

3. (over the PA system in the parks and down in the Utilidor tunnels prior to park opening) "This is Mickey speaking. Attention CM's. As it is my kingdom, I am trying to decide who gets Christmas Day off, out of the 75% of you who requested it off. If I granted all of your wishes, what do you think the kingdom would be like for all of our guests?"

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[PHXscuba]

That "policy" really sucks, espcially if you all made requests based around what you believed the order to be (seniority, order of requests, etc.). If this is a written policy, it should be challenged as discrimination, if it's simply one your supervisor made up, then his supervisor should be made aware of what he's pulling. Although October doesn't seem like last minute, many people have already made holiday plans, tickets, etc. Too many people are always going to want the holiday weeks off! There has to a reasonable way of deciding who gets the days/weeks off.

I used to work for a newspaper. We worked every night of the year, so someone had to work every holiday. Weeks off were by seniority (I sympathize with the PP who could put in for eternity and never get Christmas week off), but holidays during the weeks we worked they at least tried to work it out fairly. In October they'd give us a sheet with Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day listed. You got to rank your choices for days off. They would try to give everyone their first and sometimes second picks. So the football fans got New Year's Day, the partiers New Year's Eve, etc. I usually volunteered to work Christmas night -- nothing going on by then anyways.

The only thing that steamed me was one guy with a lot of seniority who always got Christmas week off -- and he was Jewish. I know it was to spend time with kids off school, but it pushed buttons (take the second week of holiday break off!!)

PHXscuba

 

[Colleen27]

The policy sucks, but I wonder if it isn't well-intentioned... The seniority-based system can suck too, when you're the mom with a young child who can never spend holidays with your kids. Perhaps this boss is just trying to think of a way that younger employees can be home with their families for a change.

 

[rhiansmom]

You are being discriminated against because of your family status, which is illegal. No differently than an employer refusing to hire someone with young children b/c the employer fears the employee will miss a lot of work due to child illness, etc.

Employers can't discriminate against those who don't have young childen, just like they can't discriminate against those who do.

I would address this with HR. If it isn't resolved, file with the EEOC. Also, if you were to file with the EEOC, and were terminated b/c of this, then you would have an excellent case for not only discrimination, but also for retaliation.

Hopefully someone with half a brain in the HR department will realize that it's illegal discrimination, and reverse the decision on holiday vacations.

Good luck!!!

Actually family status is only a protected status in a few select states so unless the poster is working in one of those states (cant remember off the top of my head because I only deal with Iowa now) there is not an EEOC complaint.

Now if they said only women with families then the men are being treated differently and they would have a valid complaint.

 

[C.Ann]

I'm pretty sure you're going to "come down with something" 2 days before Christmas - aren't you?

I agree - it's not fair..

 

[DWGal210]

I'm sorry, that stinks.

What concerns me is the system your boss used; I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't the only employee voicing concern about how this was done. I would think a more equitable way would be based on seniority.

What saddens me the most is the man who you said worked there for years and now can't get time off for his wedding. I bet his fiancee was NOT a happy camper when she got that news.

 

[zuperdaave]

If you don't have a union (as someone else suggested contacting), you should go to your Human Resources department. If you are afraid of retribution, print out the e-mail the supervisor sent, block out your name if it displays at the top, and mail it to the head of HR. This is a blatently inequitable move that needs to be rectified. Good luck...

 

[clutter]

If I was younger than I am, I'd be thinking... hmmmm, great time to get pregnant. 12 years of holidays off!

 

[surfergirl602]

You are being discriminated against because of your family status, which is illegal. No differently than an employer refusing to hire someone with young children b/c the employer fears the employee will miss a lot of work due to child illness, etc.

Employers can't discriminate against those who don't have young childen, just like they can't discriminate against those who do.

I would address this with HR. If it isn't resolved, file with the EEOC. Also, if you were to file with the EEOC, and were terminated b/c of this, then you would have an excellent case for not only discrimination, but also for retaliation.

Hopefully someone with half a brain in the HR department will realize that it's illegal discrimination, and reverse the decision on holiday vacations.

Good luck!!!

I was going to say the same thing! This is discrimination!!! I could be contacting HR now! I would make a bulleted note stating everything (when you put in your leave, etc. to keep with you for reference.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

Oh yeah that is so unfair. I can't believe they actually are getting away with it honestly. It's discrimination on many levels. I'm sorry you are dealing with it.