Then you're not who I was referring to. I don't think anyone lives up to that standard. People complain - it's part of life. If you can compare having to work as a cop or a firefighter to working at Target, then why not? But that was actually just directed at the general "don't complain - be happy you have a job!" people. There seem to be no conditions attached to those statement, so why couldn't it apply more broadly to "don't complain - by happy you are alive!" Sure, being robbed is much worse than working at Target. But being alive is much better than having a job.
It's a hell of a lot closer than comparing buying an XBox at Walmart to saving someone's life in the Emergency Room.
Yes, that's what they should do if they cannot get their request granted. I'm all for that. However, I'm even more for them not having to do that and the company treating its employees better by giving them a day off. And I'm *even more for* living in a country where our standard of living is high enough where nobody has to work a job that sucks that much.
If y'all think employees should just be happy that they have jobs and never complain, yes. I don't see any of you qualifying any of your "no b****ing" statements, and instead making comparisons to emergency services jobs - people, who by the way, also b**** about their jobs. Please share under what circumstances people are allowed to complain about their jobs, and then I can provide better examples.
I think one thing that bears mentioning is what about employee morale? Its pretty well known that happy workers are more productive especially in the service industries. While retail isn't a service industry it is still one where employees interact quite a bit with customers. Will it help Target if many of the employees that have to work on Thanksgiving or the black friday midnight ship are surly and provide poor service to the customers? Personally for me one reason why I avoid Black Friday, I will probably be working myself that day, is that I don't want to deal with the hassle and that includes overburdened sales and customer service people.
I think it's fine to complain. Complain as loudly as you want. Just don't complain when you lose your job.
Apparently it does help their bottom line, otherwise they wouldn't do it. And they probably won't stop doing it until it is no longer profitable. So, that's why we shouldn't participate if we're against it.
True in their calculation they believe it will help but what happens if bad service ends up backfiring on them? In the age of youtube and online reviews it actually wouldn't take many incidences of surly Target employees mistreating customers to harm Target.
A little example of a company bucking the 'xmas as early as possible buybuybuybuybuy' trend. I know Nordstrom has received a lot of good pub for this. Just illustrating the point how companies can benefit from deliberately dialing back the consumerist xmas-sploitation.
Back when stores ordinarily closed on Saturday and Sunday, barbers' hours were to open on Saturday to accomodate weekend customers and have an off-day on Monday instead. Most places will now be open every day, which I think a pity. My current barber keeps traditional hours anyway. When I was younger, my wife and I failed to plan ahead properly for Christmas and found we had no groceries for dinner that evening. The nearby grocery stores were all closed, so we bounced around a couple of restaurants until we found one open. Since then, I'll make sure I'll have essentials like food and gas before the holiday. I have gone to Christmas evening movies before. That doesn't seem as onerous to me since Christmas is more focused on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Thanksgiving doesn't really get going until mid-afternoon and runs into the evening. I have a brother-in-law who works crappy jobs and he usually has to leave Thanksgiving early or skip altogether, and it sucks. In small-town France, where hours of operation are much more constrained, everyone will be closed on Sunday, except one grocery store that will be open until noon. The pharmacies will all close early on Wednesday but will have one open on a rotating shift to handle emergencies. Restaurants will also take turns being closed for an evening of every week -- and no one will even open for dinner before 7:30. Shopkeepers will close for a month in the winter to take their vacation, so they can be open in the summer to accomodate other vacationers. Most stores are closed daily from noon to 2 pm. When I visit, it is pretty maddening to be honest. But, I appreciate what it does for quality of life. There's a lot more respect paid to the lowly worker. And society continues to function just fine even when you can't just go shop whenever you want.
A lot of people don't show up for work on BF. People hate working it. I've also posted an article about Blue Laws in Mass. preventing stores from opening on Thanksgiving. I have a serious problem with that. Would I sign a petition? Probably not. Would I express concerns to the media? Definitely not. Comparing serious health concerns to people's convenience (I assure you this isn't purely about spending time with family) is just as asinine as comparing ER services to Retail. I personally don't care when Black Friday starts. I know the employees hate it regardless.
What about fighting for the 40 hour work week? People used to have to work 45 or 50 hours without overtime and complained until they got the 40 hour work week rule. That wasn't about safety - just employees being asked to work more than they wanted to. Were those people wrong to fight for that?
They are using it to their marketing advantage. Other stores have as well. And that is their choice. For upscale stores, I certainly think it is the right move. Chik-fil-a & Hobby Lobby are closed on Sundays. I encourage these family people to go work those places.
Actually, I don't like the 40 hours thing. I'm salary, so no OT for me. I'm required to work 2,200 hours a year.
Even salaried people benefit from it, because it sets 40 hours as the reasonable standard. If non-salaried people routinely worked 50 or 60 hour weeks, you'd probably be working more than 2,200 hours per year.
When I was hourly, I hated OT. I loved the extra pay, but employers were resistant to have you work at the higher rate. I worked 2 jobs instead. This was especially true when I worked at Wal-Mart. I hated mandated breaks and mandated lunches. Managers would want me to work, but I'd be at my 6 hour limit, or 40 hours for the week. I loved my job, and I wanted to work, and would have happily worked more hours at the same rate.
