prejudice in holiday benefits

[jerry]

I work for an Iowa public utility with a handbook that states we shall recieve 8 1/2 holidays a year with pay and if you work on a holiday you will get double time holiday pay ontop of the holiday pay. The dept. I am in has a set schedule so the only benefit we get from holidays is if we work that day then we get the triple time(holiday pay+double time holiday pay), so I work 40 hours a week, every week and some years loosing 4 or 5 holidays a year but my pay stub still shows 8 hours of holiday, 32 hours work when in fact it is 40 hour labor and no holiday. The rest of the depts. are monday through friday with on call schedule and with on call pay and also receive the triple time if called out on holidays and they do get the 8 1/2 days of holidays. My question is do I have a logical complaint because I am trying to explain myself to the utility board and no one seems to see my issue.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by jerry

I work for an Iowa public utility with a handbook that states we shall recieve 8 1/2 holidays a year with pay and if you work on a holiday you will get double time holiday pay ontop of the holiday pay. The dept. I am in has a set schedule so the only benefit we get from holidays is if we work that day then we get the triple time(holiday pay+double time holiday pay), so I work 40 hours a week, every week and some years loosing 4 or 5 holidays a year but my pay stub still shows 8 hours of holiday, 32 hours work when in fact it is 40 hour labor and no holiday. The rest of the depts. are monday through friday with on call schedule and with on call pay and also receive the triple time if called out on holidays and they do get the 8 1/2 days of holidays. My question is do I have a logical complaint because I am trying to explain myself to the utility board and no one seems to see my issue.

Hi,
Can you clarify, are you working on the holiday? Or is the holiday on your normal day off?

[jerry]

If I am scheduled to work a holiday I work it and get my holiday pay + double time, if I am not scheduled to work on the holiday it's as if the holiday never happened. Example, Veterans Day I was on the schedule so I worked with triple pay, but as for New Years, Independence Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and 1 1/2 days for Christmas I am not scheduled to work, so now my holiday benenfit has gone from 8 1/2 days to 4 days. The 4 days I did work with triple time but the other 4 1/2 days I did not work. The utilities reschedules the holidays for all other depts. so the don't loose them. We've been asking to reschudule ours to a floating holiday that we can use on a day shift only, but would aggree to any day we are scheduled to work, but it falls on deaf ears. Just wondering if this situation is normal in the labor force.

[LConnell]

The concept of holiday pay can be very confusing. Many employers who offer holiday benefits handle it the same way. Holiday pay isn't really an additional pay for those who have it off. Instead, their pay is not deducted when they are not there. The additional pay received by those working on the holiday is a premium pay...paying them for the inconvenience of working on a day when most of the company is off.

So, unless you are docked on the holiday for not working on the holiday, you are receiving holiday pay. You are just not receiving the premium pay for working the holiday. Does that make sense to you?

[Sue]

Originally Posted by jerry

If I am scheduled to work a holiday I work it and get my holiday pay + double time, if I am not scheduled to work on the holiday it's as if the holiday never happened. Example, Veterans Day I was on the schedule so I worked with triple pay, but as for New Years, Independence Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and 1 1/2 days for Christmas I am not scheduled to work, so now my holiday benenfit has gone from 8 1/2 days to 4 days. The 4 days I did work with triple time but the other 4 1/2 days I did not work. The utilities reschedules the holidays for all other depts. so the don't loose them. We've been asking to reschudule ours to a floating holiday that we can use on a day shift only, but would aggree to any day we are scheduled to work, but it falls on deaf ears. Just wondering if this situation is normal in the labor force.

In these trying times where almost all companies are cutting costs, downsizing and more, it is becoming more common.

Holidays are a benefit at the discretion of the employer and no one is "entitled" to them. It is unfortunate you cannot benefit from the triple time, but from the company's point of view it saves them money and helps curb costs.

My husband had Monday off as his regular day, and we all sure know most holidays fall on a Monday, so he did not benefit from the holiday policy as well.

It may not seem fair, but it is legal.

Best wishes.
Sue

[amy-b]

In these trying times where almost all companies are cutting costs, downsizing and more, it is becoming more common.

Holidays are a benefit at the discretion of the employer and no one is "entitled" to them. It is unfortunate you cannot benefit from the triple time, but from the company's point of view it saves them money and helps curb costs.

My husband had Monday off as his regular day, and we all sure know most holidays fall on a Monday, so he did not benefit from the holiday policy as well.

It may not seem fair, but it is legal.

Best wishes.
Sue[/quote]

Not for everyone. Employees under a federal contract (or working for the federal government directly, I believe) have different regulations.

29 CFR 4.174 - Meeting requirements for holiday fringe benefits.

(a) Determining eligibility for holiday benefits--in general. (1)
Most fringe benefit determinations list a specific number of named holidays for which payment is required. Unless specified otherwise in an applicable determination, an employee who performs any work during the workweek in which a named holiday occurs is entitled to the holiday benefit, regardless of whether the named holiday falls on a Sunday, another day during the workweek on which the employee is not normally scheduled to work, or on the employee's day off. In addition, holiday benefits cannot be denied because the employee has not been employed by the contractor for a designated period prior to the named holiday or because the employee did not work the day before or the day after the holiday, unless such qualifications are specifically included in the determination.
…..
(3) The obligation to furnish holiday pay for the named holiday may be discharged if the contractor furnishes another day off with pay in accordance with a plan communicated to the employees involved. However, in such instances the holidays named in the fringe benefit determination are the reference points for determining whether an employee is eligible to receive holiday benefits. In other words, if an employee worked in a workweek in which a listed holiday occurred, the employee is entitled to pay for that holiday.

[LConnell]

That is true...under the McNamara O'Hare Service Contract Act (for service contracts) or the Davis Bacon Act (for construction projects), among others. However, the public utility isn't considered a federal entity.