Getting to use your days off from work for a short holiday is great because it lets you recharge, spend time with your family, rediscover your passion for your hobbies, maybe even travel a bit. Unfortunately, not everyone has that luxury, especially when their company demands that they be on-call 24/7 and pressures them into not taking any free days during the holidays.
Imgur user iHateGames turned to the internet with an example of exactly such corporate intimidation. In a series of posts, the Imgurian explained how one railway company, BNSF, does all that it can to make sure that the conductors it employs don’t take days off (or use their ‘layoff’ in railroad terms) when they want to but instead are available to work during the holidays.
And most of us probably agree that the holidays are meant to be spent in the company of loved ones, not working.
In an in-depth interview with Bored Panda, Dr. Eddy Ng, the James and Elizabeth Freeman Professor of Management at Bucknell University, explained how important it is that employees know their rights and how they should deal with pressure from their employers to work during the holidays.
Image credits: iHateGames
An Imgur user posted a letter sent to a train conductor, pressuring them to work during the holidays
Image credits: iHateGames
The story spreads over two posts and got more than 12,500 upvotes on Imgur combined, with the majority of people exclaiming that it’s not fair to demand such things from employees, whatever their job might be. Some Imgurians couldn’t help themselves and made train puns, such as how some companies like ‘railroading’ their employees.
Here’s the context
“Labor laws or employment standards will require employers provide regular employees with paid time off for statutory holidays. In the event that an employer requires an employee to work over the holiday period, the employee will be eligible for statutory holiday pay—the amount varies across different jurisdictions.”
“Employees can and should remind employers of their statutory rights pertaining to holiday or holiday pay should they work. Employers may face fines if they violate labor laws or employment standards,” Dr. Ng explained.
Union representatives contacted the company regarding their intimidating letter
Image credits: iHateGames
Image credits: iHateGames
Employees should know their rights
The professor continued: “Employees are entitled to know and should know their rights when working over a holiday period. This information should be provided in employee handbooks and it is good management practice to let employees know of their entitlements.”
“Employees may also contact the Department of Labor that enforces labor laws or employment standards to file a complaint,” he added.
“Sometimes, it is necessary to ask employees to work during a holiday period,” professor Ng conceded. “However, employers have a duty to accommodate employees who are unable to work over a holiday period for religious observances (religious accommodation).”
“Employees should inform their employers in advance to allow their employers to find replacement workers. US laws also require employers to accommodate employees only to the point of undue hardship, i.e., more than a de minimis cost or burden to the employer.”
Communication can solve everything?
There’s no such thing as a perfect workplace and sooner or later, everyone’s bound to have at least some minor problems with their superiors. However, if your boss starts bullying you into doing something that will negatively affect your health or your morals, that’s when you have to stand up for yourself. If you’re feeling trapped in a corner, more communication might be the key to solving your problem.
For example, Cheat Sheet writes that if you’re always asked to work late and on the edge of burnout, you ought to talk to your boss and explain exactly the amount of work you’ve been doing and how much it’s affecting your health and motivation. You never know, your boss might be willing to find a compromise that suits you both. Especially if you’re a valued employee
Career expert Karen Burns had this to say on the subject: “Trying to accomplish the impossible is a recipe for failure—yours as well as the company’s. It’s even possible your boss isn’t aware of the weight of your workload. The ‘reward’ for a dependable achiever is often to be given more work.”
What do you think of this entire situation with the railway company, dear Readers? Do you think that everyone should be able to take time off when they want, especially during the holidays? Have you ever been in a situation where your employer tried to intimidate you? Let us know in the comments.
Here’s how people reacted to the story
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