Archived How can I get Christmas eve off for religious reasons?

[Retail Girl]

http://blog.ogletreedeakins.com/avo...equests-for-religious-accommodations-at-work/

While Spot is legally required to make reasonable religious accommodations, there are two reasons why this might be considered unreasonable: first, it may force others who want time off to be denied if yours is granted, and b) if someone else has seniority and has been there longer, they don't have to give up time off for someone who has not been there as long.

That doesn't mean you won't get it...but it means you need to talk to HR and your ETL the next time you work.

PS When I was hired, I had on my availability that I am not available on Sunday mornings. The HRTM (who has been with Spot forever) took one look at that and told me that must have been overlooked, because if they had seen that, I would have never been hired. That was not legal for her to even say that to me, much less suggest that they practice that sort of discrimination when making hiring decisions.

So be careful what you say to your TMs about protections they have under the law. You could land the company in legal hot water. You don't have to agree with the law personally, but you do need to follow it.

 

[neversaynever]

Oh, I've been using OP to mean other poster. I've been doing that for a while too, whoops.

it kept confusing me as to what you meant!

We're back to the whole it isn't a Holiday thing that people have been saying. It's not a federal holiday, but I don't like people saying that it's not a holiday at all because it definitely is. Just think of all the places that are closed on Christmas eve for religious reasons. Retail stores tend to be open on Christmas eve only because of the increase in holiday shopping, not because they don't think it's a " real holiday".

Aside from "mom and pop" type of places, i've NEVER encountered anyplace closed on Christmas Eve for religious reasons. And most places close at noon not all day.

This could be a regional/cultural thing though I guess?

I said it was more of a personal thing because it seems like not everyone who celebrates Christmas celebrates Christmas Eve, so I meant "personal" in the sense that Christmas eve is very important to me personally, not that I want it off more for personal reasons than anything else. Hope that makes sense.

Also, I should've put that I don't leave the house with the exception of going to church. I don't see that as work because it's church. But things like holiday shopping, Christmas attractions, etc., I don't do any of that.

I expected to be scheduled on Christmas Eve and other important holidays because I have open availability (except for a few hours on Sundays) but I did not think that they would make a big deal of me requesting time off for Christmas eve. Target seemed like one of those jobs that would work along with your schedule, because they gave me that impression during orientation. Now I see that any request is going to annoy them, even when I'm still available the majority of the time.

They may not make a big deal about you asking for it off - but it is also late in the game and a lot of people that give up Thanksgiving with family may be getting Christmas Eve off. You just never know until you ask.

And they do work with your schedule.

1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter of the year. 4th quarter... all bets are off.

 

[RedMan]

Are you going to ask for Good Friday and the Saturday before Easter also? How about Ash Wednesday? Those are pretty religious and I promise you, Target won't be closed. Perhaps you should have mentioned in your interview that you want all religious "holidays" off. Then you wouldn't have to quit because you probably wouldn't have been hired.

I wish you the best of luck finding an entry level position that will guarantee you all of your holidays off.

It's funny that you say that, because there are a lot of entry level jobs that will give you all that time off and more. Are you aware that some people only work a few days a week because of religous commitments? How do you think Muslims who have to pray 6 times a day find work? It would be easier for them to get time off in a retail job than your typical 9-5 because those companies are looking for people willing to work unusual hours. This is not uncommon.
I'm not an orthodox Christian, but there are some people who take their religious holidays much more seriously than I do and would consider it a sin to do any work on those days. To say that these religious observances are not real holidays is not only culturally intolerant, but also grounds for a lawsuit if you're somebody's boss.

That may be true (lot of entry level jobs that will give you all that time off and more), but I've never seen it. Nor am I aware that some people only work a few days a week because of religious commitments. That may also be true, but I'm willing to bet that they told their employers that information BEFORE a job offer, not two months into the job.

Just because you say it's a real holiday doesn't make it so.

 

[JuicedSoftball1]

My 9 to 5 is not closed on Christmas Eve. They will probably let us out early though. If I do not want to be here I have to use a vacation day. Banks are not a good example either. They are almost as bad if not worse than the government!

If you give them enough notice and say why they will probably hook you up. Most people rather than requesting those days off just bitch about not having them off but never go through the hassle of actually requesting them off.

 

[oath2order]

This thread reminds me. I need to make a reminder to request closing on Christmas Eve. It's one of the few times that's not ridiculously late, so I can still vibe with guests, and I get to watch the stupid people try and fail to come in the store at the last second.

 

[IHeartCarts]

This thread reminds me. I need to make a reminder to request closing on Christmas Eve. It's one of the few times that's not ridiculously late, so I can still vibe with guests, and I get to watch the stupid people try and fail to come in the store at the last second.

I worked last year and the place was dead after like 2 PM.

 

[oath2order]

This thread reminds me. I need to make a reminder to request closing on Christmas Eve. It's one of the few times that's not ridiculously late, so I can still vibe with guests, and I get to watch the stupid people try and fail to come in the store at the last second.

I worked last year and the place was dead after like 2 PM.

But the crowd of "OH SHIT I NEED A CHRISTMAS TOY WHY DON'T YOU HAVE MYSIZE ELSA AT 9PM ON CHRISTMAS EVE

 

[redeye58]

Our crowd was the "Is this ALL you have left?!"
Why, yes. That IS all we have left.
Where have YOU been the last 3 months?

 

[Mhugh220]

I'm ready for stores to start being open on Christmas day. Movie theaters are, why not Target? Imagine the money you'd make if you were open and offered better sales than anyone did on Black Friday. Greed vs Religion - who would prevail?

 

[Triscuit]

Our crowd was the "Is this ALL you have left?!"
Why, yes. That IS all we have left.
Where have YOU been the last 3 months?

Last year on Christmas eve i overheard two guests talking. One of them made a comment that since it was Christmas eve everything in the store should have been 50% off ... lol yeah cuz we are going to reward you for waiting till the last possible second to buy gifts

 

[Producer]

We're back to the whole it isn't a Holiday thing that people have been saying. It's not a federal holiday, but I don't like people saying that it's not a holiday at all because it definitely is. Just think of all the places that are closed on Christmas eve for religious reasons. Retail stores tend to be open on Christmas eve only because of the increase in holiday shopping, not because they don't think it's a " real holiday".

It is not a holiday. Most places ARE open on Christmas Eve.

I expected to be scheduled on Christmas Eve and other important holidays because I have open availability (except for a few hours on Sundays) but I did not think that they would make a big deal of me requesting time off for Christmas eve. Target seemed like one of those jobs that would work along with your schedule, because they gave me that impression during orientation. Now I see that any request is going to annoy them, even when I'm still available the majority of the time.

This isn't just some minor request. You're asking to take off a day that NOBODY wants to work, and EVERYBODY has to work. Why should you be allowed the day off when there's people who've worked at your store for 6, 8, or 10 years who will be forced to, once again, work on Christmas Eve? That's what I mean by you being arrogant. When you were hired, you were asked if there were any days off that you needed within your next 90 days and you refused to mention Christmas Eve out of naivety and your excitement for getting a new job, but I don't see how that's Target's problem.

Please do put in a request for the day though and let us know what happens. I'll be checking the "Happy Trails" subforum for your update.

 

[TeamRed]

You and about 100 more people probably feel the same way but they aren't going to give it to you. Best bet is to swap with someone or call off.

 

[IhaveaDream]

I've only been with the store since October, but I will NOT under any circumstances work on Christmas eve. I'll try and swap shifts with someone, but won't it just be easier to say I don't want to work for religious reasons? Or would that actually make things more complicated?

You were hired as seasonal, as a seasonal hire you ARE to work holidays. That is why you were hired. So if you are scheduled to work on the eve(which you will be), you WILL show up to work or you will not have this job anymore.

 

[ExhaustedCashier]

Your Target family isn't enough for you?

Anyone who was seasonal at my store who requested time off didn't get kept on last year. (I was one of the "lucky" ones to stay on.) It's one day, is your family going to really remember you not being there for a few hours because you had to work? Probably not.

You already get your two major religious holidays off (if you make it past seasonal). If you knew this would be a problem, should have said so at your interviews. You didn't, you have to deal with any consequences as an adult.

 

[Kompa]

What religious reason would you need Christmas eve off for? I'm christian and I'm finding it hard to actually come up with something. I know some churches hold service late in the , or early so people can get their travel on. But I've yet to come across an religious event for Christmas Eve that would last all day. It's not even a religious holiday,

 

[PT Target]

No religious reasons here - I'm just crossing my fingers that I don't have to close. I'm hosting 20 people for Christmas and the last thing I want is to get home at 10:30pm and see that the clean house I left 8 hours earlier has been trashed by my kids, and I have to start over.

 

[Amaazingdude]

I've only been with the store since October, but I will NOT under any circumstances work on Christmas eve. I'll try and swap shifts with someone, but won't it just be easier to say I don't want to work for religious reasons? Or would that actually make things more complicated?
---------------
EDIT

Thanks everyone who replied for sharing your advice! I just want to clear up some things because I'm getting a lot of similar replies.
- Yes, I am now aware I should've put in my request when I just started. I said that in my "huge idiot" comment a while back. To reiterate, I am a huge idiot.
- I understand that I will fare better if I put in a request ASAP. Thanks!
- I have my own personal reasons for not working on Christmas Eve that are both religious and family oriented. If you don't think it's that big of a deal to work on Christmas Eve, that's your opinion and I respect it. Please don't shoot people down for having traditions that are different from yours.
- I never said that I deserve to have Christmas Eve off more than anyone else. Some of y'all are really jumping to conclusions here.
- I'm seeing some harsh judgments of people's religions in the comments. Please keep it respectful.

Chirstmas Eve is a "Blackout" date. Which means no shift swaps, no asking off etc. Only way out is to quit, or take the NO CALL NO SHOW.

 

[sigma7]

Or call out.

 

[Goingstrong]

Christmas Eve is not an official holiday, just like New Years eve is not an official holiday. The only "official" eve holiday I can think of is All Hallows' Eve (read Halloween) which still isn't an "official" holiday. Places may still close early on Christmas eve, but it doesn't make it a federal/official holiday.

Back to the point, if you were seasonal and told them that you were willing to work Christmas eve as part of the seasonal availability questionnaire, then you might be SOL. If you are a regular hire then you're still going to be under 90 days. Unless you mentioned this during your interviews, then it might be a little tougher to be scheduled off. You can always talk to your leaders about it and put in a time off request. Maybe if you explain to them why you need the day off then they will be more accommodating.

Coming up out of the blue and telling me that you will absolutely not show up for a shift on such and such day makes me tell you that you are free to put in a time off request, but I will be scheduling to the needs of the business.

Come up to me early enough and tell me why you need such and such day off, and that you would really appreciate if I could work with your request, then I will go out of my way to schedule off it at all possible.

But I would for sure lose the attitude that you came here posting with. The hard reality is that you're coming off like an entitled snob. You agreed to work a retail job during the holiday season. You attitude here suggests to me that you already have issues with leadership in your store. In my experience, many leaders are much more open to team members that treat them with respect than those who work there a short time but walk around thinking that they own the place. That said, my team knows that I write my schedule for what the business needs. Time off requests (if reasonable) are approved on a first come first served basis. If I have a tm who puts in an early request off for Christmas eve the I will probably approve it. If you are the third or fourth person putting in a request, then it's probably not going to be approved.

I've never had any problems with my leaders (except for forgetting to do things sometimes because I'm new, but they are always understanding and coach me). Obviously I wouldn't use those words to say that I'm unavailable when I'm speaking to my bosses, I just did it here to emphasize that I'm very adamant about not working on Christmas eve.
Also, I disagree that my attitude is "uppity". If I seem annoyed or even outraged, it's because I am. Regardless of whether Christmas eve is an official federal holiday, it's without a doubt an important holiday to a lot of people and it's not unreasonable for people to put their family first and refuse to work on that day. It really bugs me because Target is a multi billion dollar company that can definitely afford to close on Christmas eve, yet we're made out like the bad guys for saying it's unreasonable to not want to come to work that day.
My bosses may be friendly but in my experience, they have not been very accommodating to people's schedule changes, especially if they're new. So if you would give people time off, that's you. Not everyone has it that easy with their bosses. I was just wondering if maybe mentioning that I want off for religious reasons might give me a better chance of getting time off, but based on other replies, it probably won't.

I agree with Sigma you do seem uppity. If I was your leader I would tell you that you can expect to be scheduled on Christmas Eve in the morning, and will be off in time for church. If you had an issue I would let you know about the swap shift board, but tell you that without a doubt if you call in on Christmas Eve, there is no way you'd stay on past seasonal, and if you call in you'd be termed your next shift.

Target makes a ton of money from last minute shoppers and there is no way they would ever close on the last shopping day before the holiday. It's team members like you, who make it necessary to schedule extra team members for the day because you feel like you are entitled to time that others aren't.

Get out of retail now. You're not cut out for it.