Maybe I wasn’t clear on what my point is - apologies for that.
I’m not complaining that I personally do not get the holiday off - I never served, so it doesn’t affect me directly - and as echo6160 pointed out, I do get enough as it is, so I have no dog in this race.
In the past, the company took the position that veterans were not important enough to recognize a holiday to honor and show respect to veterans, so they took it away.
Now that there is an incentive (even if it is a small token (12k as tim-n-va states) the company jumps all over it. Believe me when I say this company will jump over a million dollars to save or grab a nickel, and once voltaire pointed the bill out, it became even more apparent to me that it was simply a self-interest thing, not to actually honor veterans, as their email claims, thus the hypocrisy.
Again, I understand companies can and will do things for their own self-interest, with employees not seriously part of the equation. Maybe tim-n-va is right and I’m making a mountain out of a mole-hill shrug.
I don’t recall ever working for a company that got Veteran’s day off. Just because it’s a federal holiday doesn’t mean businesses close and work doesn’t need to be done … I certainly wouldn’t pit my current employer for not having it as a company holiday, either. I don’t see how giving everyone a day off supports our armed forces, other than symbolically. Their military leave policy that maintains income levels and guarantees holding jobs open for deployed Guards and reservists (which goes well beyond the minimums required by law) seems a lot more important from my POV.
Another one here who has never gotten Veteran’s Day off, or MLK, or President’s. I had a job about a decade ago that gave us Columbus Day off, but I don’t get it anymore. These days I go from New Year’s Day to Memorial Day without a day off (except for weekends), although I can use my own personal or vacation days as I desire.
I don’t think so. Companies are NOT obligated to follow the US national holiday schedule as far as I can tell. My husband’s former employer did not - heck, they only got 6 (I think) paid holidays per year. My current employer does not, and Veteran’s Day and Columbus Day are the two that they do not (though we do have “floating” holidays that we can use for those purposes). I do, however, get the day after Thanksgiving off as a formal holiday; that is NOT a national holiday.
Regarding whether there’s an obligation to pay double-time on a holiday, I don’t know. For exempt employees I don’t think so; the one job I had that was hourly did pay extra if you worked on a holiday.
Different states have different rules; but there are no national employment rules & standards for holidays. Technically, a company doesn’t need to offer any paid holidays. (But good luck finding people willing to work for you if you don’t offer either paid time off or bonus pay for, say, Christmas.)
“Federal holiday” means “day that federal employees get off”. Most state and municipal employees get them off, too, but there’s no requirement that private entities offer the same days off. I take it you never worked retail?
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Regarding whether there’s an obligation to pay double-time on a holiday, I don’t know. For exempt employees I don’t think so; the one job I had that was hourly did pay extra if you worked on a holiday.
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No such obligation exists in any state I’m aware of. Companies generally do offer time-and-a-half or double time for people working on company-designated holidays, but that’s strictly voluntary.
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Who the hell gets Veteran’s Day off in the first place? I mean, besides government employees. What the heck? Who gets Veteran’s Day off?
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People who work at law firms, other than associates who want to make partner. If the courts are closed, our offices are closed.
Nope. But I did work for a civilian-owned and operated company for a year. The boss paid us double time for federal holidays. Didn’t bother me that I had to work the two I did since I got paid double.
We have holidays established by statute (5 U.S.C. § 6103 and similar state legislation). We don’t have days the government says you have to be off or paid extra for.
Well, another pit thread with “hypocrisy” in the title that fails to show hypocrisy (this one doesn’t even assert it much less make any kind of argument for it).
Here’s a little primer: hypocrisy is saying one thing while doing another. So, if someone says “drugs are bad” and does drugs, they are a hypocrite. If they do drugs and then stop doing drugs, they aren’t a hypocrite necessarilý.
While this company’s behavior seems a bit two-faced and sleazy, I also fail to see the hypocrisy.
No, there are no mandated paid holidays in the United States for private employers. None. Zero.
Even government contractors whose employees work in a government building alongside government employees who get all the federal holidays aren’t guaranteed federal holidays. It’s up to the private employer whether to give them a paid holiday. So you have situations in which a handful of government contractors show up to work in a largely empty building. Guess how easy it is to get work done when no one else is working!
The Smithsonian Institution, which is funded by and administered by the government, is open every day of the year except Dec. 25. That is the sole paid holiday for its employees.
There’s a poll thread over in IMHO. About 30% of respondents said they get Veteran’s Day off, so it’s far from a universal expectation. I’ve never had it. Would it be nice? Sure. Is your company being hypocritical by not offering it? I don’t think so.
I once worked for a government contractor which made military equipment. They did not give us Veteran’s Day off. Note that their ONLY client was the US military.
Every year, representatives from the client asked why we didn’t have the day off. They seemed to resent that the company didn’t think it was important.
To reiterate: our only clientresented this business practice.
I work elsewhere now. Not because I want the holiday per se, but because that company went out of business.
I don’t think that’s the (theoretically) hypocritical part.
The company pulled Veteran’s Day as a company holiday. No problems. I’ve never gotten the day off, either, and it’s far from universal.
But then, the same company decided later to offer it again as a holiday (taking away a personal day at the same time) to “honor” veterans. Of course, this was just in time to market itself to unemployed veterans and also possibly get some tax benefits.
Maybe the company can be taken at their word that it’s simply to honor the work of veterans. But it would be mildly hypocritical to decide it wasn’t an important holiday to celebrate one year only to later decide it was important to honor veterans just as “coincidentally” they get a benefit from doing so.
Not saying that’s what happened but if it is, it would be hypocritical.
It’s like all the “green” campaigns around oil related companies (including the one I work for and the ones we contract for). Recycling and conserving water/energy are important, but the big push from the corporate level didn’t come until some bright mind figured out those things saved millions of dollars every year, too. So, actions that have little to no fiscal impact on us (reduction of packaging, greener electronics, electronics recycling of any kind, encouragement of such practices at employees’ homes, etc) get very little attention. Mildly hypocritical, to be sure, but also understandable.
