Labor Day can be more of a hassle than it’s worth for anyone driving to or from a big city. Navigating into and out of it can take hours and for what? To pay higher gas prices and higher hotel rates? To visit a crowded outdoor destination like a lake or campground and experience none of the quiet, tranquility of nature? The cacophony of vacationers roars over the scurry of chipmunks and the wind in the trees. Who really wants that?
I know a lot of people who aren’t terribly thrilled by the idea.
If you’re a business owner or manager, scheduling around these holidays can be an equivalent nightmare. Everyone wants the day off but someone’s got to work. Many employers pay employees time and a half to get them to come to work happy on holidays but extra money doesn’t please everyone. Even a crowded day off is a day off, after all. Who cares what you’re doing as long as you’re not at work, right? For some, sitting back in traffic is a welcome respite from the typical Monday.
But what if employees could have their cake and eat it too? That is, have their day off and tranquility. A lot of people would jump on the idea. Likely, not everyone – many people take the holiday as an opportunity to spend time with their families. This is a good thing, though. If the whole office or store wanted to work the holiday, you might be over-scheduled and if everyone wanted to take the next Monday off, you’d be under-scheduled. But if a few people are willing to exchange holiday Monday for another Monday, your scheduling woes would all but disappear.
Offer Time-Off On Another Day
In exchange for working on Labor Day, you could offer employees another, more attractive day off in the future. To successfully implement the idea, give employees a choice of:
- The very next Monday off
- An extra day added to their PTO bank
If employees get a choice of when they get their day off, there might be more takers, if more takers is what you want that is. I can see a lot of people jumping on this offer!
