I had to take a vacation for the weekend before july 4th for my best friend’s wedding. So i turned in my vacation time 8 weeks in advance to take day of the weekend and july 3rd( Mon )
My Boss approved it, However they told me that since July 4 is a national holiday and I am taking a day off before, I will not get paid on July 4th and there is no way I can get my paid holiday back…
I am from Hong Kong. It is illegal to do such a thing over there. Is it legal here? I work in Rhode Island… it is okay for my previous job… HELP!!! 
…i have come across this before with some u.s. companies, but it is rare for exempt (salaried) personnel…h.r. or someone in your company should have a published policy regarding vacations…legal?..there is nothing that requires them to pay you for any national holidays but you might ask if you can provide them comp time (like work a Saturday before your scheduled time off).
i didn’t know they had 4th of july in HK.
All the hourly jobs i worked as a teenager had this policy.
If you don’t work your scheduled day before and after a paid holiday, you do not get paid for it.
I forgot to tell:
I am a full time employee.
be thankful for that.
yes, that’s a crappy policy and it should raise red flags about what other policies they have. in the long run, though, you’re still gainfully employed.
you might want to explain to HR that your time off is YOUR business and YOUR money. if they disagree, ask where the building will unlocked so you can come in on that day. come in, surf pr0n, leave early.
something does not sound right. Do you get paid vacation? Is July 4th a paid vacation day for everyone else? Can you take that day as a paid vacation day as well by using your vacation time?
This sounds to be a very shady company and I agree that they may have some more shady rules.
If hourly it is actually quite common in retail and fa ctory enviroment. However, not for saleried designers
sounds like total BS to me. You should be able to take your time as you see fit as long as you are getting your work done. Its pretty common to extend vacation time by using it adjacent to a holiday…
Is this a big corporation? a design firm?
Yeah, this is shady. I’ve never heard of a policy like this for salaried, full-time employees. If you work for a company, I’d definitely speak to an HR representative and see if what your boss said is indeed true.
It’s a small company here.
Apparently, this rule is in the employee handbook, HOWEVER when I got hire, my boss verbally agree that since I am the only one employee with oversea relatives and he will work this out with me. That’s why I sign the paper work…
But When I turned in my day-off request to my boss.( it is approve by my boss, not HR) It was another story…
Do you have a set number of vacation days?
goto HR, word your request carefully so as not to sound like you are doubting your boss’ statement. your boss might just be incorrect and made a small mental error.
small side story: a “friend” of mine worked for a company for 3 years. this “friend” took the job out of desperation. three years of long work hours, little recognition and constant dealings with an alcoholic, disgruntled manager, my “friend” finds another job. this “friend” puts in the two week notice around christmas. my “friend’s” boss isn’t there on the final day because of the holiday vacation. HR gave my “friend” a compensation check for about 4 weeks of unused vacation time. turns out the boss never gave HR the vacation requests after my “friend’s” first year, as was company policy for him to do so, so despite using all the time off, HR never had it recorded. my “friend” walked out the door on that final day with a $3500 check and sweet vindication.
My boss is the owner/ Head of HR dept./ the creative Director/ God (at least he likes to think he is)
He likes to give lectures to junior high kids on how to start a business…
And he creates his own DVD on how to do business in China…
OH! And he called his 4 designers office" America corporate headquarter" And his one person 100 sq feet Hong Kong office as" Asia Headquarter" Also his friend in Shanghai’s phone number is used as the Office of Shanghai…
Anyhow, I guess I really cant get my paid-holiday back in this case. It seems that this rule really isn’t illegal in the US. Thanks guys for all your input! I really appreciates this!
Actually I don’t think it is legal for a full time employee to loose a holiday day that way, but your ability to do anything about it is very limited.
For example I worked for a firm straight out of school that would not pay overtime even though I worked hourly, so if I worked under 40 hours I got less money, but if I worked over 40 I did not get overtime which by law I think they where obligated to pay in NY state. My ability to do anything about it was limited by the fact I needed the work, but I worked on my portfolio and got out as soon as I could, so did 6 other designers that year.
Sounds like to me you are in a shady start-up. If you are let me give you one peice of advice…GET OUT. I know from experiance and trust me it wasn’t a good one. I was with a company in northern NJ that sounded exactly like this. My pay checks where always late and managment was terrible.
If you are not in a shady start-up it still sounds shady and bot a good situation.
wow! This sounds totally similar to my situation.
I am used to working in big corporations. This job is the first small company experience I have and it’s taking my confidence away from working in any small firm again.
My first week of salary was never mention until I reminded them after 11 months of working ( I know they owe me money, but I feel like a jerk to ask all the time… that’s just my attitude toward cash)
then my second paycheck was about 2 months late.
Since the manager/owner/boss is so self-center and enthusiastic about his design/ business ability, He really do not consider anyone’s opinion besides his own. This really frustrates me because I believe design is not about one person opinion.
Other than that, I was promise bonus before I start. Then 8 months later around bonus time, I was told that I was not entitle to any.
I believe good job should never be depressing. Letting this out helps a little.
is your boss taiwanese? he sounds like someone i used to work for. just trying to figure it out without naming names.
Na… he is white…
Is the name of The firm Concurrent ID??? I know it is very improfessional to call a firm out like this but just wondering.
If your pay checks are late don’t feel bad about asking for your money. You work hard ofor your money and you deserve to get every dime you earn on time. My situation got so bad that I had to leave. I loved the project I was aorking on but I was digging myself a hole finaically and had to find a way to pay my bills.
Don’t let someone push you around. There are plenty of jobs out there you just have to be aggressive and look. Also start picking up freelance work in the mean time. This gives you an option to come back and tell your employer that you will only give him what he will pay for.