miscommunication about holiday pay

[Anonymous]

I am a student working part time (15 hours a week). I was told in the interview I would get paid holidays if they fell on my normal work days. However, today I got my paycheck and did not get paid for yesterday. I don't have a contract and they call me a babysitter. I get $22 an hour before taxes. I feel like I'm not in the position to negotiate because I get paid really well and I want it to work out either way. I have also asked them about days they have planned to not need me and expectations for how much time I could take off unpaid on my own. I have figured out the projected days without pay from them and subtracted it from my annual amount. I think my annual take home pay at this job may still be higher than most jobs I could get. I also like that I can get a lot of "extra" time off. I don't if I should say anything. I feel weird about asking.

[Anonymous]

Without a written contract, this gets sticky. They might have just forgotten, or they might have changed their minds.

You could say, "I'm working on my budget for school, and with all the holidays coming up, I wanted to know which days you'll need me and which days I'll be paid for. Thanks."

If you take that approach, I might just let this one go. What happened for Labor Day?

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP, and perhaps you could request that your employer give you a list of all your future paid holidays in writing. In fact, they really should have done that anyway from the beginning. It's not a contract, but having everything in writing limits the possibility for miscommunication.

I'd probably let yesterday's holiday go, but make sure all future holidays are clear.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they're looking at major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, NYE, Easter, etc.)

If they like you than i highly doubt they'll fire you over justing asking for clarification. If you don't say anything then they might think you don't notice/care and will do it again?

[Anonymous]

I would assume that they don't view Columbus Day as a holiday. That is not unreasonable since most in private sector don't have this as a holiday and it is not a "real" holiday in the sense that anyone celebrates anything.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I remembering asking to be paid for scheduled work days which fall on a Federal Holiday. Additionally, I asked to be paid if for some reason, they left town on a holiday that is my scheduled work day and on which I would've planned to work. MB said she totally understands that and it was okay. I didn't bring up major holidays like Christmas vacation...

[Anonymous]

You work 15 hours a week. You're lucky to get any paid time off. That's less than a half time job.

[Anonymous]

If you normally work and they gave you the day off for the holiday, you should be paid. If you took off, obviously you shouldn't be paid. I would clarify with them that any day they request you not be at work is paid, unless you have a previous agreement about said day. It sounds like they told you to take the day off in this case. I wouldn't expect to be paid this time but get things clarified and in writing so it doesn't happen again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You work 15 hours a week. You're lucky to get any paid time off. That's less than a half time job.

OP isn't lucky to get anything, she had an agreement with her employer that was not honored. The fact that she only works 15 hours, though irrelevant, makes not being paid even more disruptive and upsetting. To a grad student who is budgeting every paycheck, missing a days worth of hours can be a big hit.

[Anonymous]

Just ask them OP. Just say you want to clarify what the policy is about holidays. That you had included holidays in your budget but you aren't sure exactly what holidays that meant and could you maybe make a list so you are both on the same page.

[Anonymous]

I'm just curious... OP do you always get paid on Tuesday for the prior week and the Monday before? Every family I've nannied for has been the last working day of the week, generally Fridays, sometimes Thursdays or Wednesdays if it was a short week. And usually, there was a week gap between work and pay for my above the table jobs.

Maybe yesterday didn't make this pay cycle and you'll get your holiday pay the next time you're paid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You work 15 hours a week. You're lucky to get any paid time off. That's less than a half time job.

OP isn't lucky to get anything, she had an agreement with her employer that was not honored. The fact that she only works 15 hours, though irrelevant, makes not being paid even more disruptive and upsetting. To a grad student who is budgeting every paycheck, missing a days worth of hours can be a big hit.

I'm an undergrad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm just curious... OP do you always get paid on Tuesday for the prior week and the Monday before? Every family I've nannied for has been the last working day of the week, generally Fridays, sometimes Thursdays or Wednesdays if it was a short week. And usually, there was a week gap between work and pay for my above the table jobs.

Maybe yesterday didn't make this pay cycle and you'll get your holiday pay the next time you're paid?

No, there's no gap. I always get paid on Tuesday for the same week I worked.

[Anonymous]

What we did with our nanny is tell her that her paid holidays corresponded with the paid holidays at my (MB's) office, and gave her a list of what those were. We then said her holidays for 2014 would also be those days that were holidays for my office and we'd give her a schedule of them as soon as we got them. May just be a question of asking them to clarify. Would say that a LOT of employers did not consider Monday to be a holiday, so they may not be trying to cheat you here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What we did with our nanny is tell her that her paid holidays corresponded with the paid holidays at my (MB's) office, and gave her a list of what those were. We then said her holidays for 2014 would also be those days that were holidays for my office and we'd give her a schedule of them as soon as we got them. May just be a question of asking them to clarify. Would say that a LOT of employers did not consider Monday to be a holiday, so they may not be trying to cheat you here.

+1 I also give my nanny a list of her paid holidays every year since the dates change and she gets the next working day after Christmas and New Year's Day off. Columbus Day is not one of them, btw.