The Fourth of July may be America’s greatest day of the year, but this year, it also represents a worst nightmare for America’s office managers, shift bosses and productivity gurus.
That’s because Independence Day falls on a Wednesday this year, and managers across the D.C. area are staying open regardless of America’s midweek birthday and employees’ requests for time off.
A D.C. ice cream shop owner said this is one of the busiest days of the year for her store, so she makes it clear to her employees that requesting time off is not usually granted.
“Some employees have asked off, but we get a lot of seasonal employees for the summer,” said Victoria Lai, founder of Ice Cream Jubilee. “We let them know from the very start that we are open July 4, that we are busy all the weekends in the summer, and that we expect them to be available for the shifts that they sign up for in the summer.”
She said that it is hard to predict customer traffic on the Fourth, but she is expecting more customers than usual because of the store’s special “red, white, and blue ice cream cone” and the fireworks happening outside of the store.
Ms. Lai, who will have eight employees at each store location for the holiday, said: “I think that we are very clear with our expectations and therefore we have a lot of staff that will be available on the fourth, fifth, and sixth.”
“It can be hectic because July is the peak of our season, but summer and ice cream go hand in hand,” said Ms. Lai, who will be working with her staff immediately after the holiday to prepare for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. “We love the bustle because that means more people are enjoying their summer and creating happy memories with ice cream.”
Robert Sonderman, pit master at the Federalist Pig, said this will be the barbecue restaurant’s first time being open on the Fourth of July.
The restaurant is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, but plans to open five hours earlier Wednesday and will close when the food is sold out.
“Unfortunately, for us, it’s just another day of the week for us,” said Mr. Sonderman, who will be working with eight of his employees during the holiday. “Hopefully, we’ll be super busy and sell out early, so we can all go hang out at parties or friends and family.”
Mr. Sonderman said the staff is used to busy days, so they are well-prepared for the crowd that Fourth of July will bring.
“The Fourth of July is a pretty popular day for barbecue,” said Mr. Sonderman. “The business has to stay open and staff needs to work in order to get paid. It would be nice if everyone could make money without working, but that’s not the world we live in.”
Senior economist Dean Baker said there is actually no requirement that employers must pay workers a premium for holiday work.
“Many workers do, and it was actually my understanding, until fairly recently, that this was the law,” said Mr. Baker who works for the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “If an employer chooses, they can tell workers to work on July Fourth at straight pay, and fire anyone who doesn’t show up.”
Mr. Baker noted that the Fair Labor Standards Act only requires a premium when workers put in more than 40 hours a week.
“That doesn’t sound like good employment practices to me, but it is completely legal,” Mr. Baker said.
According to a survey created by Office Pulse, it stated that 19 percent of the 350 employees surveyed will return to work Thursday “extra tired” or “hungover.” The survey also found that one in five managers were overwhelmed by the amount of time off requests.
A D.C. manager of Atlas Brew Works said the holiday will not be a hectic day for her staff. Rachel Murray, general manager of the Tap Room, said that the brew hall has been open on the Fourth the past two years for limited hours.
“The Fourth of July is usually a pretty easy going holiday to work,” said Ms. Murray. “We usually have more traffic on Fourth of July when it falls during the week than we would have on a normal weekend night. People like to grab a pint and stock up on beer-to-go for parties or before heading off to enjoy the fireworks.”
Ms. Murray said that being open on the Fourth does not put too much stress on the staff and it is a great boost for the business.
“Our production staff, brewers have time off on the Fourth of July,” said Ms. Murray. “The shifts in the Tap Room are open for the Tap Room staff to pick up. There are usually a few people that choose to work the afternoon.”
The Fourth of July falls on a Thursday next year, so hopefully employees can have their time off requests granted, so they can celebrate America’s birthday all weekend long.
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