To think if you want retail workers to get Boxing Day off...

[StillCoughingandLaughing]

... the same should apply to bar and restaurant staff, cinema staff etc.?

The last couple of years now I’ve seen campaigns on Facebook pushing for all shops to be closed on Boxing Day to give retail workers ‘A precious day off with their families’. ‘We can all cope for one day without the shops, for heaven’s sake!’, people say, as magnanimous as you like. Yet they go on to wax lyrical about how retail workers deserve to be able to go to the pub or for lunch with their families, or to the panto, like everyone else.

Who do these people think are cooking the meals, serving the drinks etc.? Taking their tickets and showing them their tickets at the theatre? Why don’t these people deserve to be graciously awarded a day off by the great British public - regardless of whether they might actually want the overtime?

AIBU to think that if you’ve ever been to the pub, restaurant, theatre, cinema etc. on Boxing Day, you’re being a massive hypocrite by supporting this kind of campaign?

I feel sorry for he carers at dad's home who have to get cabs ( if they don't drive) and work 12 hour shifts over the holidays.
It's shit for anyone working Christmas and new year but it's also unavoidable for so many staff in many sectors. I do agree the shops / cinemas etc should shut for two days but some stores have to pay a big fee if they don't open in big malls so some just open for the sales as it's just easier and cheaper I guess. Not good for the staff though.
Pubs could shut too but the bigger owners probably like the profits too much to do this.
None of it is good.

From fb...

"Glynis Marshall‎ to SHUT THE SHOPS ON BOXING DAY - HEY ITS CHRISTMAS!!
26 November at 07:25
I've just been chatting to a customer where I work (I'm now in leisure) she works for Primark. She has to go in for 9pm on boxing day night with no public transport available as it ends at 6pm and taxis at premium rate. On explaining this to her manager she was told come in or face disciplinary action........How can companies get away with this, it's like blackmail"

I’d prefer everything shut for a few days over Christmas so everyone gets a decent break. Obviously not feasible for emergency services etc but everything else there’s no real reason for them to be open every day barring Xmas day over the holidays

@kateandme - the pubs do open but only for a few hours - it's generally a very sleepy little place!

We are in the UK, yes.

Hope someone reminded that vicar that retail workers have to pay council tax unlike him. If he wants parity with them perhaps he should be careful what he wishes for

I'd assume/hope that the vicar was joking. But do vicars really not pay council tax? I just looked up the list of exemptions and can't see anything about this.

I think maybe everything should close boxing day because it is so manic in the days before hand that really a day rest and recuperation is called for. I worked a night shift last night and I was screamed at by customers at 2 in the morning because there was not enough tills open. This despite having 4x the number we would have on a normal night. Apparently every member of staff should have been working, when I pointed out they had to cover 24 hours so not possinle to have them all, I was told well you could have taken on a temp for 1 night. The last 2 days have been horrible we have worked 14, 15 hour shifts, been sworn at, threatened, cleaned up some drunks pile of vomit, and will be back in on Thursday morning in many cases spending less than 48 hours with family. As an aside we collected 12 full trolleys of things that people changed their minds about and just dumped on shelves on their way round the shop. A lot of which had to be thrown out as it was chilled or frozen the rest well someone has to work late to get it all back on the shelves and then there was a seperate smaller trolley collected of all the bits the customer ate on the way round then dumped the remains without paying, like the chicken wing bones, the multi pack of crisps they open to take some out to keep the kids quiet, a milkshake as they were thirsty.

But do vicars really not pay council tax?

Doubt many district the vicar is exempt

Possibly the vicarage whilst empty

On explaining this to her manager she was told come in or face disciplinary action........How can companies get away with this, it's like blackmail"

Because the staff refuse to join a union and then allow the manager to treat them in this way

Friend turned round to her manager and said... carry on, guess what they have such bad managerial skills they didn’t bother as the turn over if staff is so high and it’s difficult to recruit, due to shitty contracts and MW

But you’ve got to have the balls to say NO and if all the team said NO what could they actually do?

They get a day off - Christmas Day.

That’s more than a lot of NHS staff and emergency services workers get.

I’m afraid I don’t have much sympathy for people having to work Boxing Day when my son will is unlikely to ever have both of his parents at home on Christmas Day.

darkstar

So is it that you think that retail staff are as vital as emergency service workers and Some NHS staff are?

Or is it that you think if nhs staff and emergency service workers have to work then so should everyone

Either view is valid I suppose

They could replace them, quite easily ivy

When I was a child everywhere was close and I mean everywhere!

Pineconeupyourarse not if they organise themselves properly they can’t...

I'm normally working (not retail or hospitality but not life saving/essential). I'm of the thought that we've started expecting 24/7 service and it's unlikely to go back, that campaign particularly annoys me as it suggests others working are less important

Because the staff refuse to join a union and then allow the manager to treat them in this way

It's not that they 'refuse' many don't even know that retail/hospitality staff can join a union, and then you've got the fees, which when you're counting every penny make it hard to justify. No protection at all under 2 years, add to that 0 hours contracts - kick up a fuss and that's exactly what you'll get, and nearly all employers are the same so it's not like changing jobs makes a huge difference either. You don't 'allow' yourself to be treated that way, all staff are treated this way and in fear of losing the job they have and therefore the ability to put food on the table if they kick up a fuss - and it's been normalised. Perhaps if all the staff joined a union it might make a difference, but one or two won't and most are too worried about rocking the boat to stick their neck out.

Friend turned round to her manager and said... carry on, guess what they have such bad managerial skills they didn’t bother as the turn over if staff is so high and it’s difficult to recruit, due to shitty contracts and MW

That's one example, and good on her for having the courage to do so, but many don't because their livelihood is at stake.

But you’ve got to have the balls to say NO and if all the team said NO what could they actually do?

It's getting the message out and getting the whole team to do that though, as I said this kind of thing is so normalised that it's just accepted. No one has any respect for these workers, the public, employers, the government...... No one cares enough to actually stand up and help.

"So is it that you think that retail staff are as vital as emergency service workers and Some NHS staff are"

I pointed this out on a similar thread last year.

If it is just as important for retail workers to be in work as it is health/NHS workers then surely they should be paid the same................oh but wait as soon as this is pointed out its backtrack city and comments about how retail isnt as important. But you cant have it both ways.

Its actually quite nasty to only want a pretend sort of parity that helps some feel superior to shopworkers. The bit where they should all be in on BD And not true parity where they should all be paid the same. As they are just as important if its highly nessacary for them to be in.

I think shops should be closed on Sundays and public holidays- as well as restaurants. It might help improve retail profits too- less wages and overheads to pay and people would just shop at other times.

YANBU

I've worked in hospitality for years and can't remember the last Christmas day I done anything less than a ten hour shift never mind boxing day! Barely a day off between Christmas eve and new years day. Yet it has always been a total pet peave of mine when people complain about working Christmas. Yes we all have a moan about it but also know it's part of the job, if you don't like it your in the wrong industry! Retail is no different.

I agree in principle but not everyone celebrates Christmas, some people prefer to work not least because of the extra pay. Also what about hospital staff etc.

I think Boxing Day should be a shut down day across the board. I remember when the January sales actually started in January. I've a number of family members in retail and service industries. They are zombies at this time of year.

I agree with you. Same as Sunday trading. How high and mighty some people get about it whilst not giving a shit about other workers. Nowt special about shop workers compared to cinema staff, bowling alley staff, hospitality staff so don’t know why they seem to be some kind of special case

*I was a bit shocked earlier today when a checkout assistant in Tesco told me that because Christmas Day fell on her normal rota'd day off, she wasn't actually getting an extra day. She then added "But at least I don't have to use a day of my holiday".

Tight bastards, Tesco, and if this is normal for retail, the system needs to change.*

Not seeing what’s wrong with this? I like it when Christmas falls on my non working day because I don’t need to take holidays (we get generous holidays but it’s a total figure including public holidays so if the office is closed on a working day it comes off my holidays). It’s hardly unusual.

The utter nonsense of NEXT staff going to work at 3am so the Sale shoppers can rush in at 5 am On Boxing Day is what astounds me! the bargains can wait, can’t they?

Matalan is just as bad. 3.30am staff have got to be in ..............apparently. Working for the bloody taxi fare!!!!

metro.co.uk/2019/12/23/matalan-criticised-making-workers-start-3-30am-boxing-day-11952076/?ito=article.desktop.share.top.twitter

Matalan have been criticised for allegedly forcing staff to start work at 3.30am in order to be open for Boxing Day sales. A shopper at a branch in Walsall, which will open at 4am the day after Christmas, said a worker informed him she was given no choice over the shift. Andrew Scattergood, 37, told Metro.co.uk: ‘She said her Christmas day would be spoilt as she knew she’d have to be up at 2.30ish’. At least 21 Matalan stores will open at 5am or earlier on the 25th, with one in Birmingham even opening at 2am. Its stores normally open at six in the morning. The company denied making any of its staff work earlier than normal and said employees who opt into the shift will also leave early. Store workers and local managers at Walsall refused to comment. A worker at the Birmingham branch said all staff there were given a choice according to their contract.

But Twitter users rounded on the company after Mr Scattergood posted about his exchange. Kristen Louise wrote: ‘I work retail and this absolutely sickens me. We work our arses off in the lead up to Christmas and we only ever get Christmas day off.

Many also questioned why shoppers would feel the need to arrive at 4am and criticised consumers for fuelling excessive holiday commerce. Some pointed out how other retailers offer staff a choice to work on public holidays with double pay and an alternative day off. Mr Scattergood, a local trades unionist, added: ‘It’s outrageous that people are unable to enjoy proper downtime at Christmas to spend with their loved ones. ‘Matalan, and all the other retail stores doing this, need to take a good hard look at themselves and think about the wellbeing of their staff. ‘Why any store should open at 4am on Boxing Day morning is beyond me.’ A spokesperson for Matalan said: ‘The Boxing Day sales are a popular fixture for many of our customers, and alongside our online promotions a small number of Matalan store teams opt to open early. ‘This is down to the decision of these individual stores and the staff who choose to open early. No employee is expected to work the early shift and it is up to each employee to choose their preferred schedule.’ Matalan said stores opting for earlier openings are typically in locations with higher customer demand, in line with many other retailers in the area