We were notified yesterday that time and 1/2 for holidays is being eliminated, although no details have yet been formalized.
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They have also eliminated most vacation time in our state. The state passed a law for sick leave and that gave SHC the opportunity to cut our vacation time. I used to get around an hour of vacation per pay period now I get 5 minutes per pay period.
Sears Roebuck and Co are changing laws everyday !
I have been employed with Sears for over eight years and it has become a nightmare.
Why come up with a " New Labor Law" stating we will no longer be paid time and a half for federal holidays? What initiative is there to working on holidays? It never ends with this company !!!
A few weeks ago they claim part-timers now have to work 2 years and accumulate 1,500 hrs ( they no longer have many full- timers).
Why should they do all the hard work, be disrespected by management and the majority of untidy customers to wait so long for vacation.
They are also telling certain employees that they have to choose between working for them or their other employment when they are not given much hours.
Sears principals have diminished over the last five years and it seems like it is only getting worse.
The majority of management are very disrespectful and favortism and nepotism exist on a high level.
I would not advise anyone to seek employment with Sears Beverly Road under the current management.
As someone said below if your state requires it, they have to pay. Massachusetts has a small number of holidays which require time and 1/2 pay for hourly retail workers. If you live in one of the states that require time and 1/2, look out for it because "mistakes" can be made.
@1pag is correct.
https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/holiday
"The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations or holidays (federal or otherwise)."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/are-you-being-paid-fairly-for-the-holidays/
"Lots of employers do pay time-and- a half or even double time for holiday work, and if yours does, fantastic! But they aren't required to."
https://blogs.findlaw.com/free_enterprise/2015/12/do-i-have-to-pay-time-and-a-half-for-holidays.html
"the law does not require private employers to pay time-and-a-half to workers who toil on special occasions."
The bygone semi-standard I used to hear growing up was everyone getting paid their regular wage for a holiday they didn't work on, and double-time for working on the holiday (since coming in on a holiday shouldn't get you just 50% more than someone who doesn't have to work on it).
@1uqn- They are not required to pay time and a half for holidays. They’re not required to pay anything over your regular hourly wage for holidays, nor are they required to pay you for a holiday you don’t work. Most employers provide this benefit to their employees anyway. But they are absolutely not required by law to do so.
If holiday is law in your state, then SHC must pay it... Period. End of argument.
If they didn't, they would be forced to pay it and have to pay a fine know top of it.
So someone explain the law in plain english. Does this mean they can or cannot stop paying time and a half for holidays? As it stands now, you have to work a certain minimum of hours to qualify for time and a half holiday pay. This new policy seems to say that you will only get time and a half for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For all other holidays you will get and extra $2 per hour during the holiday hours. So if you make $10 per hour you would get $15 and hour for holiday pay under the old system. Now, you will get $12 and hour. So you lose $3 per hour.
I also heard that vacation time was being reduced to 10 minutes per pay period as opposed to the almost 1 hour per pay period some people get now.
I think Sears. is trying to run off its employees.
Employers are NOT required to pay time and a half for holidays. Only for OT.
The company began its legacy of
reducing pay and benefits for active employees and retirees back in the early 90s and NOW you are complaining ?
It's the bottom of the ninth, nobody's on base, it's tied 0-0, and the crowd left before the 7th inning stretch .
It doesn't really matter if it's federally mandated or not. It's about wether or not it's morally tolerable or not. Just because you have the ability and it's legally acceptable to do something, does not make it morally just.
The company ran with the old pay plan for years(it actually used to be better and they offered retirement and 401k) and now decides to change it to that of a worse pay scale without any real compensation and I'll be damned if Sears decides to close it's stores on holidays.
How much are you willing to give to somebody who just wants to take? What will the folding point be? How long will you tolerate it before it's too much?
This is the underlying definition of a toxic relationship.
Under federal law, a holiday doesn't have a special designation for overtime pay, nor is working on a holiday considered overtime. Federal law views holidays as just another business day.
Yep. Email just came though.
They will still pay holiday shift pay in addition to any worked hours.
However, no more time & a half based on your PTO benefit rate. Instead hourly associates will make an extra $2 an hour on Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and New Year's Day. Time and a half will still be continued on two holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas (the only days we actually close, go figure).
Nice job on "WOW"ing your associates Sears, definitely wowed me. If you keep putting us down and treating us like garbage, why would we want to make the company look like anything other than what it actually is -garbage-.
If your store manager and HR conspire to follow through of refusing to pay time and a half on legal holidays, they are going to be seriously "hosed" to find a defense, if an investigation is initiated. They'll be on their own and corporate will deny any involvement. Essentially, they'll be "thrown under the bus." For their own sake, it's not worth it.
This is true... Just got done reading the email.
@TwaGQgD-jid: True, a lot has changed. But the requirement for employers to pay time and a half for recognized holidays is still law.
At big lots we didn’t get paid time half
;It goes against the a provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (section 207(e)(6)), that states: extra compensation provided by a premium rate paid for work by the employee on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, or on the sixth or seventh day of the workweek, where such premium rate is not less than one and one-half times the rate established in good faith for like work performed in non overtime hours on other days;;
Lol....I know some retailers pay more on Sunday's, but nobody gives you extra on Saturday. I'm pretty sure the labor/pay laws have changed some since 1938.
No wonder why Sears can't fill positions! In what way does Sears compete with similar employers and appeal to prospective candidates?
Walmart upped the ante. They now pay tuition for ANY employee, minus a very reasonable $1/day cost to the associate. Many others offer all kinds of other benefits. Sears has a LOT of catching up to do, lol.
Not paying time and a half for the holidays is illegal.
It goes against the a provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (section 207(e)(6)), that states: extra compensation provided by a premium rate paid for work by the employee on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, or on the sixth or seventh day of the workweek, where such premium rate is not less than one and one-half times the rate established in good faith for like work performed in non overtime hours on other days;
I don't think Sears would be crazy enough to go against by U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.
My hunch is that your management, whether or not it is being dictated from the corporate powers to be, are trying to play against the ignorance of your typical store associate, who doesn't know better.
Whoever is notifying you of this had better get their facts straight before they "wind-up" doing something they'll regret later. Namely, the prospect of having to deal with a criminal investigation and/or prosecution from the federal government.
@TwaGQgD-jer In California ever since they implemented the whole sick days vacation hours have dramatically dropped. Not like I am getting any vacation hours now (since I am part time) the few I have I am burning asap just incase my store is up for closure next.
I heard the same thing in another Sears store yesterday when I dropped by on my day off to visit a friend.
No time and a half but you get a few dollars more an hour during holidays. Now you will make on holidays what Walmart and McDonalds workers get from day one. They will continue to cut benefits until you have none. Vacation time is next.
Welp, if this goes through, I guess I won't be working 4th of July, or Thanksgiving/Black Friday or Christmas Eve, New Year's or next year's Memorial Day if I'm still here (unlikely) or the company is still in business (unlikely).
I suggest other fulltimers to do the same.
'Tis another cue to look for another job. I suggest everyone else to do the same, fulltime or not.