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Company Attempts To Intimidate Their Employees Into Not Using Their Days Off During The Holidays, They Shame Them Online
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Company Attempts To Intimidate Their Employees Into Not Using Their Days Off During The Holidays, They Shame Them Online

Interview With Expert Company Tries To Intimidate Employee Into Not Taking Time Off During The Holidays With A LetterCompany Sends Its Employees A Letter, Trying To Intimidate Them Into Not Taking Time Off During The HolidaysEmployees Receive An Intimidating Letter Suggesting They Need To Work On Holidays, Even If Their Job Contract Doesn't Say SoCompany Attempts To Intimidate Their Employees Into Not Using Their Days Off During The Holidays, They Shame Them OnlinePerson Shames This Company For Intimidating Workers Into Not Taking Time Off During The HolidaysCompany Tries To Frighten Railway Employees Into Working During The Holidays With Intimidating LettersPeople Are Furious At The Way This Company Tried To Intimidate People Into Working During The HolidaysRailroad Employees Receive Intimidating Letters Regarding Working Over The Holidays From Their Company And People Are MadPeople Are Mad At How This Company Tried To Intimidate Employees Into Not Taking Days Off During The HolidaysPerson Shows How Their Company Is Intimidating Employees Into Not Taking Time Off During The Holidays
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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

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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

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“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.”

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“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

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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.

“Companies hold the power”

Bored Panda also spoke to Imgurian iHateGames about their post. “Companies hold the power, especially in America. Unfortunately, what I think we’re seeing is that companies solely care about profits. When a company sees a perceived problem (nobody working holidays due to a policy), they react with motivation. That motivation is money.”

“In my mind, that leads to two outcomes. Either the company incentivizes people to work on those holidays with extra pay, or they attempt to intimidate employees by making them fear for their job. The railroad in question did the latter. While people boast about how well our economy is doing in America, the truth is far more unfortunate. There are many desperate people willing to be yes men for companies so that they can feed their families, acquire healthcare, and finally have a sense of security. Companies know this, and companies know the employees know this. For this reason, I believe companies find it in their best interest to intimidate employees in order to achieve maximum profits and productivity.”

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iHateGames said that they feel “terrible” for those people who don’t have union backing. “The United States is very business-friendly and gives companies a lot of leeway in the way they treat their employees. I will say, for those eligible, and especially shift workers, get FMLA! It is a federal act that protects the employee from retaliation if they need time off for medical (mental or physical) reasons. The company doesn’t even have the right to know what the condition is, although many will try to make it seem that way! Read into it on the department of labor’s website.”

Bored Panda was also interested to know whether iHateGames thinks that everyone, regardless of their profession, should be able to have the holidays off: “Yes, with a few exceptions. First responders and emergency public personnel should be available in my opinion. However, I think they should be compensated well. Private or public companies have proven they will abuse any leeway given to them. Federal Holidays off should be a right given to all American citizens.”

Here’s how people reacted to the story

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Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

Read less »
Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

Mindaugas Balčiauskas

Mindaugas Balčiauskas

Author, BoredPanda staff

Read more »

I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

Read less »

Mindaugas Balčiauskas

Mindaugas Balčiauskas

Author, BoredPanda staff

I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

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Hans
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The US should consider changing their labour and privacy laws to Western standards. Not only is this inhumane, it is economically also extremely inefficient.

Random Panda
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The USA really needs to fix its' labor laws, these working conditions are inhumane. If I understand correctly this company gives employees no vacation days and what should be regular time-off (like weekends on a standard monday to friday work week) is being treated as vacation days?

Parmeisan
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really don't know any more than you do but I'm interpreting it a bit differently. I think they're on-call but not necessarily scheduled to work every day except the 7/month that they choose to be unavailable. So "layoffs" would be kind of like vacation but there would be other time off that they don't get to choose (sort of like weekends). I don't know what ratio of the rest of the days they actually end up working but that still sounds pretty horrible. 10 hour days, many nights away from home, and on-call ~75% of the time. Terrible.

Load More Replies...
Kathy Baylis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And people have the nerve to think unions are corrupt and they’d get this kind of protection without a union to back them up? One lone conductor would be squashed by the railroad executives. One conductor who is part of a union has the union members, including other conductors getting the same treatment (and thinking they’re the only ones), plus union lawyers to back them up. Big companies have money and manpower to pressure the little guy into backing down. Unions are the like the little guy’s bodyguard with enough weapons at its disposal to push back and get the big companies to back down instead.

Jace
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

MY Union was corrupt. They helped HR f**k me over. That doesn’t mean all unions are corrupt. However, the larger and older any organization becomes, the more likely it is to become corrupted, and to be all about its own self continuance, rather than about its original mission.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
Hans
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The US should consider changing their labour and privacy laws to Western standards. Not only is this inhumane, it is economically also extremely inefficient.

Random Panda
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The USA really needs to fix its' labor laws, these working conditions are inhumane. If I understand correctly this company gives employees no vacation days and what should be regular time-off (like weekends on a standard monday to friday work week) is being treated as vacation days?

Parmeisan
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really don't know any more than you do but I'm interpreting it a bit differently. I think they're on-call but not necessarily scheduled to work every day except the 7/month that they choose to be unavailable. So "layoffs" would be kind of like vacation but there would be other time off that they don't get to choose (sort of like weekends). I don't know what ratio of the rest of the days they actually end up working but that still sounds pretty horrible. 10 hour days, many nights away from home, and on-call ~75% of the time. Terrible.

Load More Replies...
Kathy Baylis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And people have the nerve to think unions are corrupt and they’d get this kind of protection without a union to back them up? One lone conductor would be squashed by the railroad executives. One conductor who is part of a union has the union members, including other conductors getting the same treatment (and thinking they’re the only ones), plus union lawyers to back them up. Big companies have money and manpower to pressure the little guy into backing down. Unions are the like the little guy’s bodyguard with enough weapons at its disposal to push back and get the big companies to back down instead.

Jace
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

MY Union was corrupt. They helped HR f**k me over. That doesn’t mean all unions are corrupt. However, the larger and older any organization becomes, the more likely it is to become corrupted, and to be all about its own self continuance, rather than about its original mission.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
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