Have Been Asked to Work Company Holiday?!?!

Companies are not required to give holidays or even vacation or sick time. All are simply company policies which means they can really do whatever they want. Most companies tend to do the same thing to remain competitive in attracting employees, but depending on the industry it might be an actual business need. It doesn't sound like you're in retail if the company normally observes Independence Day - so not providing extra compensation is definitely not the norm and is certainly not winning over employees. It does suck, but is perfectly legal. Sorry.

Sure they can. They run the company. My guess is your boss can make you work whenever he or she wants, so long as you want to keep your job.

That stinks! I hope your name doesn't get pulled out of that hat! Do you at least get paid overtime?

Well, since someone HAS to work, I guess I'm not surprised that they draw names. The thing that floors me is that you don't get compensated for working a holiday!
I remember working on the 4th of July one year and my company paid double salary!

So long as you get paid or get comp time then yes they can do it. I have to work every Christmas eve whether it is our holiday or not. Depending on when any holiday falls I may have to work. Then again I do payroll, good thing for my coworkers I don't have your attitude. :)

Hun, didn't you see the smiley face, maybe I should have used :p, that was tongue and cheek. I hate working holidays but I would hate to have someone's checks bounce so I suck it up.

Oh to answer Scarlett on the overtime, only if you go over 40 hours worked or your employer offers it.

I actually wonder if this is a paid holiday. Our firm has paid holidays and I don's lose that by working. I also get paid for the time I work so technically I am being paid double time for hours worked.

I worked in the commercial vault of a bank. We rotated working holidays because the armoured car company was still dropping the large commercial deposits . We were paid and usually did not work a full day. As soon as all the transactions were processed, we were out of there. Didn't like it but it was my job & it was required. Just because it's a federal holiday doesn't mean they have to give you the holiday off - it depends on the needs of the business. Some banks are now located in shopping malls & they are open anytime the mall is open so that means they are open on holidays.

Yup. I worked in hotels for a lot of years and noone got all holidays off. I didnt know what it was like to actually have christmas off until I went to work for a construction company.

Yes, Hospitals, Grocery stores, Police, Malls, And of course with all of the car accidents, yes, even insurance companies, may need to be open..

My husband worked for a TV station..now the Police Dept.. They are open 24/7 365 days a year..

Yes they can. Regardless, if the company needs to be open and they say you need to be there then you should be there. Now, what I'm curious about is what is one the employees has tickets to go out of town. Did they mention anything about that? If not, then they better think because if someone has plans and their name is drawn, the company will have to reimburse that employee for all monies paid out.

Many companies do this, if you are Union you can file a greivance otherwise I think your hands are tied. Do you work in collections?

Have you ever been one of the volunteers to work on a holiday in the past?

Maybe in the future, work some holidays that aren't important to you, so that you don't get stuck working the ones you want off. Personally, as long as I have Thanksgiving & Christmas off, I'm good. Most other holidays I don't really care about. For 4th of July, you see fireworks at night, anyway. So, you may miss out on a bbq or something, but you can bbq anytime, so I don't consider it a big deal. Same with Memorial, President's & Labor day.

They must run the company on a skeleton staff on holidays & they're paying a normal wage, so it sounds like it's not really a traditional company holiday.

They pretty much explained the situation, not enough people volunteered to work that day, so they had to choose from a pool of people to come in. Annoying? Yes. But it sounds legal.

Do you get another day off in lieu of?
Do you have to work the whole day?
Can you call in sick?
Are you in retail or some other customer service field that requires the company to be open to the public?
I thought 4th of July was a federal holiday, not just a company holiday?

They cannot make you work a holiday and not give you holiday pay or some other day off in return for that holiday. That is federal law and if they are not offering compensation, they are breaking the law.

I didn't read the other responses, but I did see people mention hospitals, etc being open. Like you, I work in a profession that you would normally be able to enjoy holidays off with your family (one of the many reasons I chose the profession I am in, as opposed to one where I would be expected to work). Last year, our fiscal year end was on Memorial Day. We as a company are closed that day, and it is a paid holiday. We were told we would have to work. We checked with our HR department. They told us that although it WAS a company holiday, that since we were salaried, they could require us to work. It ended up being offered as volunteer, and those that volunteered received an additional vacation day to cover their time at work. It really sucks that you do not get that added bonus of more time off. Hopefully you will not be one of those chosen to work. :(

Short answer yes - especially if you are salaried. They DO NOT have to comp you or pay you for that time. Nothing you can do about it.

If you are hourly they WILL have to pay you - not sure about overtime pay though. But it washes out since it's a holiday and you'd get paid anyway!

If you are lucky enough - your manager may "comp" you a few hours here or there at their own discretion, but don't expect it.

Bummer huh???

I worked for corporation that had what's called 9/80. You worked 9 days and the 10th day (Friday) you were off. Work days were 10 hour days. It seemed EVERY 10th off-Friday, the "critical" departments had to come in and work because they were so far behind in work load. We all b*tched and moaned about it, but nothing we could do - we were all salaried. And HR backed management, the corporate lawyer got involved and pretty much told us we were "S.O.L"

Luckily, my immediate manager allowed comp time here & there. A longer lunch, coming in later, leaving earlier etc. during the month.

Yeah, companies are understaffed, overworked and yet mgmt expects 110% from employees - but they don't hesitate to lay you off when they have to "downsize".

Yes, your company can ask you to work on a holiday. They should give you notice, which it sounds like they have.