Forced Work Christmas Day

KaneToad

Strumms wrote: »

Not really, having your Christmas dinner together, opening presents etc. and every other tradition and enjoyable aspect to the unique day cannot be replicated, suggesting otherwise is a bit odd.

Again, I'd disagree. There is nothing to stop you eating turkey and ham (if that's your idea of Christmas dinner) on the 26th/27th/28th etc. Likewise opening presents. Personally I find it odd that adults feel that all this can only be done on the 25th.

Obvious solution - I fill in for OP on the 25th 😉

Strumms

KaneToad wrote: »

Again, I'd disagree. There is nothing to stop you eating turkey and ham (if that's your idea of Christmas dinner) on the 26th/27th/28th etc. Likewise opening presents. Personally I find it odd that adults feel that all this can only be done on the 25th.

Obvious solution - I fill in for you on the 25th ��

We’ll have to agree to disagree

Ok, I’ll eat your dinner too

Dav010

Strumms wrote: »

Try and keep up...

I’ve already addressed the fact that ‘crucial services’ ie health, hospitals, care companies, Gardai, fire services must be working... its basically ‘preservation of life’ that makes them 100% necessary to be working. You know that from the moment you send in a cv, the same with one or two other professions... but there are others who work ONLY with a view to making money, who INSIST on staff being in to ‘make money’.

Again, it’s not up to you to decide what services are “crucial”. Providing tech support to a customer with a service contract may be crucial to a business. Should businesses here stop receiving support because of Thanksgiving in the US, the Chinese New Year on 25 January, etc?

Strumms

Dav010 wrote: »

Again, it’s not up to you to decide what services are “crucial”. Providing tech support to a customer with a service contract may be crucial to a business. Should businesses here stop receiving support because of Thanksgiving in the US, the Chinese New Year on 25 January, etc?

I don’t ‘decide’ what are crucial services but last time I checked this was a fûcking forum where opinions could be expressed.. Tech support to a company might indeed be crucial or critical service ie. tech support for emergency services, ATMs etc... a mechanic might be critical and crucial I could go on.... many ‘services’ however that others want to provide can be non critical and are existing and opening and hauling people out of their homes with ‘profit’ as the sole motivation.

Jimbob1977

Very common in the customer services wing of mobile phone companies.

Customers are opening their brand new phones on Christmas morning and struggling with call credit, PUK codes, etc.

In my old company, they either got volunteers to work for triple pay... or drew lots.

qwerty13

Strumms wrote: »

I don’t ‘decide’ what are crucial services but last time I checked this was a fûcking forum where opinions could be expressed.. Tech support to a company might indeed be crucial or critical service ie. tech support for emergency services, ATMs etc... a mechanic might be critical and crucial I could go on.... many ‘services’ however that others want to provide can be non critical and are existing and opening and hauling people out of their homes with ‘profit’ as the sole motivation.

I highly doubt that it is profitable for most companies to have staff working on Christmas Day! Most companies offer a huge premium to employees to work that day.

splinter65

Strumms wrote: »

Try and keep up...

I’ve already addressed the fact that ‘crucial services’ ie health, hospitals, care companies, Gardai, fire services must be working... its basically ‘preservation of life’ that makes them 100% necessary to be working. You know that from the moment you send in a cv, the same with one or two other professions... but there are others who work ONLY with a view to making money, who INSIST on staff being in to ‘make money’.

Happily enough you don’t get to decide what a “crucial” service is.
If you have specific dates in the calendar that you aren’t available to work on then you need to specify that at the interview stage rather then get into a row about it at a later stage.

Strumms

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Very common in the customer services wing of mobile phone companies.

Customers are opening their brand new phones on Christmas morning and struggling with call credit, PUK codes, etc.

In my old company, they either got volunteers to work for triple pay... or drew lots.

Volunteerism is fine and dandy... just rostering isn’t in my view unless it’s a crucial service. Again phone services are pretty crucial too as a medium of communication for emergencies and so on, so some staffing would be required there...

If I’m living in Tel Aviv and on a particular day say Yom Kippur I fancy going for a beer and watching a movie... I CANT.... it’s not going to grind my gears, I’m not going to be pissîng and moaning, I’m going to deal with it, relax, enjoy taking a day out and looking at the calendar and planning for when I can...

Strumms

splinter65 wrote: »

Happily enough you don’t get to decide what a “crucial” service is.
If you have specific dates in the calendar that you aren’t available to work on then you need to specify that at the interview stage rather then get into a row about it at a later stage.

I don’t ‘decide’ but I think if anyone had half a working brain they can decipher what is and isn’t a crucial service , give it a shot anyway and see how you get on...

You don’t need to engage in that type of conversation in an interview, on receipt of a job offer, the time is then appropriate to discuss potential issues such as this.

Strumms

qwerty13 wrote: »

I highly doubt that it is profitable for most companies to have staff working on Christmas Day! Most companies offer a huge premium to employees to work that day.

Not profitable per say as in that day but they want to be seen to be ‘providing a service’ and available so their loyal customers get the horn for them.. ‘service is provided 365 days a year’.

Dav010

Strumms wrote: »

I don’t ‘decide’ but I think if anyone had half a working brain they can decipher what is and isn’t a crucial service , give it a shot anyway and see how you get on...

You don’t need to engage in that type of conversation in an interview, on receipt of a job offer, the time is then appropriate to discuss potential issues such as this.

For tech support, every day is a crucial day if you are contracted to provide it.

Kimbot

Strumms wrote: »

They are services, critical services, without any one of them people ARE going to die on Christmas Day. That cannot be argued.

For a ‘for profit’ business to open its just a bit prickish. It’s saying “yep for sure we want the opportunity to amass more money and in doing so we are going to try and deprive our staff from on this one day being able to relax and stay at home and enjoy with their loved ones because we want more money”. One day out of 365, but nope for some that’s a step too far.:rolleyes:

Right I'll give another example...... how about Santa brings a mobile phone to a child in your home. They are delighted on Christmas morning they got a new phone however when opened etc it doesnt work. You ring the operator and they are shut because of the holidays. I bet 9 out of 10 people would be fuming they were shut and would complain when they open.

However if they run a small staff in on christmas day they can avoid complaints and just help customers.

As I said, places been open on Christmas day is no new thing at all. When I worked in the shop 23 odd years ago it was not greed on behalf of the owner because for me to work that day I was on 4 times my normal wage and so was the manager that was in the shop with me. We done approx 180 work of sales for the few hours so no way it covered costs etc.

Wanderer78

Kimbot wrote:

Right I'll give another example...... how about Santa brings a mobile phone to a child in your home. They are delighted on Christmas morning they got a new phone however when opened etc it doesnt work. You ring the operator and they are shut because of the holidays. I bet 9 out of 10 people would be fuming they were shut and would complain when they open.

Surely waiting a day or two to resolve the issue wouldn't be the end of the world!

dragonfly!

qwerty13 wrote: »

I highly doubt that it is profitable for most companies to have staff working on Christmas Day! Most companies offer a huge premium to employees to work that day.

Normal bank hol pay where I work which is something like €13 an hour

dartboardio

My motto is you can't be forced to do anything you don't want, ever.


How important is this job to you OP?

Christmas day is a really important family day for me and I would never ever work it, even if I was offered €50 per hour. I never understand people who have the choice and are happy to work it..

Unless it was a job I loved and I was going to stay there for another few years... Id only work it if I really really had to OP!

Basically my answer is, I WOULD IN ME TREE!

Kimbot

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Surely waiting a day or two to resolve the issue wouldn't be the end of the world!

Try tell that to a child thats in a strop because their Santa gift is not working.

El Tarangu

Strumms wrote: »

If I’m living in Tel Aviv and on a particular day say Yom Kippur I fancy going for a beer and watching a movie... I CANT.... it’s not going to grind my gears, I’m not going to be pissîng and moaning, I’m going to deal with it, relax, enjoy taking a day out and looking at the calendar and planning for when I can...

I'm not sure you're getting the point people are making:

Say I lived in Ireland, and the company the provided support for X service my business used was based in Israel. It's a weekday in October, and the service borks. I ring up customer support... and am greeted with a message that the company is closed, and won't be opening for the rest of the week.

Some businesses operate in multiple markets, and have to cater to all of their customers - it's always a business day somewhere in the world. Unfortunately, that means that people working in businesses that cater to these markets are rostered for shifts in the middle of the night, at weekends - and indeed, on Christmas day sometimes.

reg114

An employee is entitled to either a paid day off, a paid day off within a month of Christmas day, an additional day of annual leave or an additional day's pay. It is the employer's choice to choose any of the above they prefer.

If you request Christmas day off at least 21 days before Christmas, the employer must tell you which of the above you will be entitled to at least 14 days before Christmas day. If the employer doesn't do that then you can take the day off and get paid for it. This can be found in section 21 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

If you are a part time worker then you must have worked at least 40 hours altogether in the five weeks leading up to the public holiday to qualify for any benefits.

So the answer is yes, you can be expected to work on Christmas Day if you have not specifically requested it off or if you work for emergency services. If you do work Christmas however, you can expect to be compensated, either through an additional day's pay or an additional day of annual leave.

is_that_so

It might be useful to ask what the company policy is for Christmas and maybe put in for a day off. Most companies around that time are ghost towns.

SusieBlue

In the past I worked in a place that opened for Christmas and nobody wanted to work it, ever.
There was never a single volunteer for it, even colleagues from other cultures who didn't celebrate Christmas didn't want to work as they wanted to spend the day with friends etc. We weren't allowed request the day off using annual leave either.
Come to think of it, there were no annual leave requests taken for the whole month of December as it was our heaviest trade period of the year.

Wanderer78

Kimbot wrote: »

Try tell that to a child thats in a strop because their Santa gift is not working.

a stropping child, must be a new phenomenon

cruizer101

Kimbot wrote: »

I bet 9 out of 10 people would be fuming they were shut and would complain when they open.

9 out of 10 would be fuming if they rang a customer service line on Christmas day and it was closed???

I call bo11ix on that. The vast majority of people wouldn't even bother to call.
I'd be surprised if even 1 in 10 would be fuming they weren't open on Christmas.

Grumpy child, they'll get over it pretty quickly and its a good lesson in sometimes you can't get what you want immediately.

SusieBlue

^ To be fair I think most reasonable people with common sense would agree. It certainly wouldn't bother me if a non-essential service wasn't open on Christmas Day, even if it meant having to deal with a grumy child.

I don't begrudge anyone having the day off but unfortunately not everyone is so considerate, they're demanding assh*les and they want everything yesterday. These are the exact same people who wait till Christmas week to buy the #1 thing on their childs list, and are then outraged & sending in formal complaints because its sold out.
They're just whingebags who are never happy. Its because of people like this that the non-essential services end up opening in the first place.

Mango Joe

Invisibleman wrote: »

You can’t be forced to do anything unless you agree, if you don’t, get another job

This.

And in addition I'd be morally quite comfortable with exploiting any avenue so that I get to spend quality family time with those I love at Christmas and whoever this sh1t ty business is they can do without your presence on that special day of the year.

God forbid that Consumers should be able to ring 1890 111222 on Christmas Day to whinge and whine endlessly about their latest bill or whatever other stupid sh1 t.

whisky_galore

dartboardio wrote: »

I never understand people who have the choice and are happy to work it..

Not everyone cares about the chocolate box picture Christmas or have a family they want to be around at that time.

Eric Cartman

dartboardio wrote: »

My motto is you can't be forced to do anything you don't want, ever.


How important is this job to you OP?

Christmas day is a really important family day for me and I would never ever work it, even if I was offered €50 per hour. I never understand people who have the choice and are happy to work it..

Unless it was a job I loved and I was going to stay there for another few years... Id only work it if I really really had to OP!

Basically my answer is, I WOULD IN ME TREE!

I used to do 4 hours on Christmas Day , was paid 800 euro to do it, would pay for the whole Christmas, have my dinner at 2 , go in at 4 , be home by 8.30 and it would pay for basically my whole Christmas. Its not the monstrosity people would have you believe.

Why are people responding with 'if you don't want to work that day, start looking for a new job / hand in your notice' etc. such a load of nonsense.

If I made it clear I had no interest in working on Christmas Day, and I was rostered in anyway, then I'd just call in sick. Who cares. What are they gonna do, 'oh you've been working here for 3 years now with no problems but sorry, here's your P45 away out the door with you and never come back'. Nonsense. It'd be forgotten about within a day or two and normal life would resume.


As has been said time and time again; there are lots of people who have no issue working Christmas Day, but for many people it's an extremely important family day. As a child growing up I'd resent my Dad for not being there on Christmas morning. As an adult, I'd never work a Christmas Day if I had kids or strong religious beliefs.

Christmas, for better or worse (worse, in my opinion) has practically become a 3-month season of the year now, and for kids, to have all that build up, and then be missing parents on the day itself, would ruin it.

Employers can run on skeleton staff of people willing to work if they so wish.

(personally, I've no kids, and so long as I wasn't working hours that would take the entire day off me, considering the extra money that gets doled out, I'd happily work it. However; I'd have no issue with people ringing in sick, taking days off or putting up a fight to get the day off).

Eric Cartman

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I used to do 4 hours on Christmas Day , was paid 800 euro to do it Its not the monstrosity people would have you believe.

And that's not the norm or really relevant to the thread.




It's like someone saying "I'd never jump out of a plane" and your response is "Oh well I did it and got paid half a million euro, it's not too bad".
:rolleyes:

SusieBlue

Deleted User wrote: »

Why are people responding with 'if you don't want to work that day, start looking for a new job / hand in your notice' etc. such a load of nonsense.

If I made it clear I had no interest in working on Christmas Day, and I was rostered in anyway, then I'd just call in sick. Who cares. What are they gonna do, 'oh you've been working here for 3 years now with no problems but sorry, here's your P45 away out the door with you and never come back'. Nonsense. It'd be forgotten about within a day or two and normal life would resume.


As has been said time and time again; there are lots of people who have no issue working Christmas Day, but for many people it's an extremely important family day. As a child growing up I'd resent my Dad for not being there on Christmas morning. As an adult, I'd never work a Christmas Day if I had kids or strong religious beliefs.

Christmas, for better or worse (worse, in my opinion) has practically become a 3-month season of the year now, and for kids, to have all that build up, and then be missing parents on the day itself, would ruin it.

Employers can run on skeleton staff of people willing to work if they so wish.

(personally, I've no kids, and so long as I wasn't working hours that would take the entire day off me, considering the extra money that gets doled out, I'd happily work it. However; I'd have no issue with people ringing in sick, taking days off or putting up a fight to get the day off).

I've worked in a place that opened on Christmas Day. Nobody ever ever volunteered, there was never anyone willing to work.
Managers don't care if you don't want to come in. Someone has to do it and saying you "have no interest" won't cut it.

Calling in sick is the height of disrespect and selfishness towards his fellow colleague who will be called in to cover his absence.
They deserve to have their Christmas with their families/friends too, its unfortunate that OP drew the short straw but ruining someone else's day isn't the answer either.
Its beyond self centred and selfish.

I was the person who was called in to cover one year and it spoiled my whole day. I didn't appreciate it one bit.
I know its not OP's problem but its a very unkind thing to do and is something that should be avoided at all costs.

His boss/owners will be at home enoying the day with the families, it'll be someone on his level who he inconveniences.

Niallof9

splinter65 wrote: »

....and they’ll say that’s grand you’ll have to work your 2 weeks notice and we’ll have your final paycheck ready for you the day you finish.
I assume if you need the A&E on Christmas Day you expect to find it open? And find it clean? And expect to be fed if you are admitted? And expect an ambulance to bring you there?
I assume if there is an electricity outage on Christmas Day you’ll expect the fault to be fixed?
I assume if you have a house fire you’ll expect the fire brigade to come?

that's life