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  • #16
    I absolutely loathe the "blackout dates".

    I had plans to head down to Florida to be with a whole load of relatives for Turkey day holiday (drive down day before, drive up that weekend). SO I put in my vacation, mentioned I had reservations (i.e. "we'll be there") to see people I have not seen in years, and it got denied. (sorry but at that time I was NOT aware of blackout dates).

    SO I go and 'plead' to the big guy to have off.

    Yeah I basically wanted off Black Friday, the "busiest shopping day of the year" because I would be in FL (Turkey day was closed).

    Talking to the big guy, he asked me if I were in his shoes what I would do about Black Friday. I didn't say this but really should have... that they should have VOLUNTEERS, and those who volunteer to work hours that day get double time, considering its their "biggest shopping day of the year"... but I didn't. ah well.

    So I had to agree to working 7pm-11pm Black Friday in order for it to be approved. If not it would be denied and I'd most likely be in trouble if I called in. SO I agree to those times that day and let b/f know.

    We planned on leaving FL Turkey night to get to our apartment in time for me to get to work on time. When relatives found out about me working Black Friday, they said that we don't need to come down esp since we'd be cutting it close.

    SO, we end up not going to FL for turkey day. Instead we stayed home and hopped to NC Saturday and Sunday.

    On Black Friday, I come in and get on a register at 7pm. Whee, 4 hours to go.

    Usually in 4 hours I take care of over 150 customers.

    That day, I took care of... 50. Probably less than that.

    I
    was
    so
    pissed.

    Our holiday weekend was cancelled cuz I was SOO NEEDED to take care of 50 freaking people on "the busiest shopping day of all"???????????????????

    but like I said I really hate those black out dates because it leaves me without family that I rarely see. Yeah I have my b/f but we like to be with family that is out of state on that holiday (and xmas).

    ah well, sorry for the rant.

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    • #17
      When I worked Security, I had to work holidays (yes, even Christmas) it didn't matter to my boss that I had children, he expected me to come to work anyway, even though he took all the holidays off to be with his kid.

      He even told me I couldn't have time off when my step son came back from Iraq, after all, my step son isn't really my child. It didn't matter that my husband was raising his sons when we got married.

      My boss wanted me to tell my step son how behind the troops my boss was and it was nothing personal. Strange, my step son was not impressed with my boss' fake support and did take it a bit personal. After all, my step son just came back from a couple tours of Afghanistan and then of Iraq.
      Do not annoy the woman with the flamethrower!

      If you don't like it, I believe you can go to hell! ~Trinity from The Matrix

      Yes, MadMike does live under my couch.

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      • #18
        I quit a job over this issue

        I'm child-free by choice. I do understand that sometimes parents have child-related emergancies and can't come to work.

        I also understand that Christmas is a special time for people with children. But, its also a special time for people without children. We have families, too.

        I had been working at hellhole for 3 years and had plenty of vacation time built up, so in June I put in a vacation request that covered Christmas and New Years. These were not unreasonable days for the job.

        In September, my manager the harpy, hired a new receptionist who had young children. (6 months and 18 months at the time of hire)

        Harpy still hadn't approved my vacation. I kept asking her and she kept brushing me off. We bought our plane tickets anyhow.

        In November, the new receptionist started talking about taking her babies to Disneyland for the Christmas holidays. I thought this was a waste of money, the kids were way too young to really enjoy the experience, but I didn't say anything to anyone.

        Three days before I was supposed to leave, I found my vacation request on my desk. DENIED!

        I stormed into Harpy's office and demanded to know why my vacation had been cancelled. Harpy told me that it was because the parents (including new receptionist who didn't even have any vacation time built up) needed time to be with their families and that I was needed to cover for them. When I asked if that included the new receptionist, I was told yes.

        I told Harpy that our tickets were non-refundable and that she was going to have to choose between a reliable, hard-working, long-time employee and a receptionist who was late at least once a week and had missed 4 days in her first 3 months. Harpy said she would think about it.

        I didn't say another word, just made my plans, documented everything and took all of my personal items home. The Friday before our vacation, I left copies of everything with a resignation letter blaming "hostile working environment".

        Harpy called me about 11 that night and screamed until I hung up and shut my phone off. She left 3 more screaming messages that night and several more during the next couple of days. I saved them all for use with the labor board. The end result was that I got my vacation pay and unemployment.

        Harpy got fired

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        • #19
          The "childless" employees were always stuck working at the gas station on holidays. The childless employees were my manager and myself. Despite her being such a sweetheart, I got really upset that all the other employees got EVERY holiday off, and she and I would have to split the 15 hour day that the store was open into long shifts. Just because you don't have children doesn't mean you don't deserve time off.

          It doesn't make us inferior or less worthy of time off.
          You really need to see a neurologist. - Wagegoth

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          • #20
            JustAGirl, not that I'm busting your chops or anything, but I don't blame the store for making you work Black friday

            In retail there are certain days where every employee is expected to work. Black Friday is one of them. The day after Christmas is another, and the last Saturday before Christmas is quickly becoming another. At my store NOBODY gets off for Black Friday (except for one guy who always got the day off because he was deer hunting, he must've had pictures of someone or something). When they interview seasonal people, they tell the applicants that they will need to work on Black Friday. If they say they can't, they don't get the job.

            I think it's a fairness thing more than anything else. Had they approved your time-off request, there might have been other employees trying to get that day off (with or without a reason such as visiting relatives out of state), and if they don't get the day off they might complain and call in sick or no-call-no-show. And Black Friday is a day where you need everybody working because it gets so busy.

            It's also impossible at my store to take any vacation time from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It sucks, but that's retail.
            Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

            "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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            • #21
              IPF, I don't blame them either, I was just so pissed that noone mentioned a thing about blackout dates when I was hired, and plans were cancelled for a mere four hours that I really wasn't needed anyway.

              That was my first retail job so I never knew about blackout dates.

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              • #22
                At my place of work, the time that everyone has to work are the week before Christmas or the week before Easter. However, people with kids can request that time off... however, just like in summer, childless workers don't even get that chance.

                I don't want time off round there as I'm not really interested in time off before Christmas or Easter; the supermarket is closed on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in any case so the only day I request every time is New Year's Day; however, just like others have said we childless workers have families too and have just as much right as the workers with kids to spend time with them at holiday time.
                People who don't like cats were probably mice in an earlier life.
                My DeviantArt.

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