Dominant Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • Culture & Arts
  • Fashion
  • Home & Living
  • Relationships
  • Style & Beauty
  • Weddings
  • Work/Life
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • Culture & Arts
  • Fashion
  • Home & Living
  • Relationships
  • Style & Beauty
  • Weddings
  • Work/Life
No Result
View All Result
Dominant Magazine
No Result
View All Result

The Worst Assumption People Make About Their Single Colleagues During The Holidays

Related articles

‘The Bear’ Shines At Showing The Funny Absurdities And Real Horrors Of A Toxic Job

5 Unspoken Job Interview Rules About What You Should Wear

While many people prepare to take time off for the December holidays, workers in certain fields get assigned to stay on the clock on typical days off.

But who gets stuck with those shifts? Too often, companies assign holiday workdays to people who are single and/or don’t have children under the assumption that they need the time off less than their peers who are married and/or parents.

Advertisement

Take it from Sophie, a hospital social worker. She said the idea that single women need or deserve that time off less isn’t pervasive at her current salaried job, but “came up all the time” when she worked retail and gig jobs.

“So much so that I internalized it by offering to work major holidays, stating, ‘Well, I don’t have a family, I don’t need to be home for “insert holiday here,”’” she said. ”‘I don’t have a family?!’ What … Kool-Aid was I drinking to completely disregard my parents, sibling and chosen family that I was volunteering for busy shifts?“

Managers should be careful not to assume that single and/or childfree people don’t need holiday time as much as others do.

What Sophie and many other single, childfree employees experience is known as “singlism,” according to social scientist Bella DePaulo, a term she defines as the stigmatizing of and discrimination against people who are single.

Advertisement

DePaulo finds that single people are often stereotyped as not having a life outside of work.

“Of course, that is totally untrue,” she has previously told HuffPost. “Single people have people who matter to them, and commitments and interests and passions that matter to them. All that should be irrelevant, anyway: [The] workplace should be about work. Everything should even out ― how often you get to leave early, come in on the holidays, get your choice of vacation times, etc. ― such that over time, every worker is treated the same, and marital status or parental status do not matter at all.“

If you don’t have children to support or a married partner to spend time with, do you not deserve to have a restful holiday break? Too many employers seem to think not. In response to a HuffPost callout about single discrimination, a reader named Emily shared that she was always the one who had to sacrifice time with her family and loved ones at her job in college development.

“It wasn’t even a question,” she said. “It did so much damage to my relationships — family upset I could never join them for gatherings, significant other frustrated that I allowed work to become a priority over our relationship and home. It nearly broke us up.”

Advertisement

“I loved my job and the perks of business and pleasure. But sometimes, you just hate it and ask, ‘Why me? Again?’”

– Patricia, former military staffer

A HuffPost reader named Patricia said not being married was the reason she was assigned long deployments that would often fall on holidays at her military job.

“My boss’ reason was simply because I was single,” she said. “Doesn’t my kid count as family? … I loved my job and the perks of business and pleasure. But sometimes, you just hate it and ask, ‘Why me? Again?’”

There’s a fairer way to assign holiday shifts.

So what would be a better system? There isn’t just one answer. Some organizations organize holiday schedules based on seniority, but managers should keep in mind that that system leaves people out, too.

“Seniority usually means it will favor people who have families, who are going to be older,” said Mary Abbajay, president of the leadership development consultancy Careerstone Group. She noted she’s seen single, childfree people pushed to work holiday days, especially in industries like health care and retail that are reliant on shift work.

Whatever organizations do, they shouldn’t wing it. Instead, they could try involving employees impacted by the process and see what they would recommend to make the process more fair, Abbajay said.

“Maybe make an equation out of it. Seniority gets you one point; maybe you lose a point if you took it off last year. Something that automatically doesn’t give it to the people who have been there the longest or who have the kids. Maybe you have a lottery for some people,” Abbajay said. “The bottom line is get creative about how you could make this feel more fair and inclusive.”

Organizations should also consider rewarding employees who work the holidays with money or a small gift, she added. “Something that says, ’You know what, I really appreciate that you fell on the sword for this one.’ You want your people always to feel valued and appreciated, especially if they have to work the holidays.”

Extra paid time off would also do the trick.

Sophie said her advice would be for companies to first put holiday shifts up for grabs, “because there are definitely folks who prefer to work those shifts for a variety of reasons,” she noted. “Then, whatever remaining gaps there are, look at whoever worked the previous year/years and ask if they want to work it again this year. If they don’t, then establish a type of rotating schedule or pull from a hat.”

Advertisement

If you are a single, unmarried employee who keeps getting assigned holiday shifts, you can try broaching the topic as a request to your boss, Abbajay said, but make sure it’s not phrased as a complaint. In the meantime, get those holiday requests in early.

“It’s hard to say no when you’re early,” she said.

As for Sophie, she said she knows better now than to volunteer for holiday shifts. Older peers who were retired and her colleagues with adult children helped her realize that she deserved time off for the holidays, just like anyone else.

Last year she worked all the major holidays she celebrates — Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, New Year’s Eve and Day — because of COVID. “Now, this year when I was asked to work those same holidays, I smiled and said I had already put in my time and that this year I was taking all of them off,” she said.

Related…

Previous Post

This Eyebrow Trend Is Still Going Strong. Here Are 12 Products To Get It.

Next Post

Rep. Ayanna Pressley Tests Positive For COVID-19

Related Posts

‘The Bear’ Shines At Showing The Funny Absurdities And Real Horrors Of A Toxic Job
Work/Life

‘The Bear’ Shines At Showing The Funny Absurdities And Real Horrors Of A Toxic Job

5 Unspoken Job Interview Rules About What You Should Wear
Work/Life

5 Unspoken Job Interview Rules About What You Should Wear

This Woman’s Viral Argument For Marriage As A Career Has The Internet All Riled Up
Work/Life

This Woman’s Viral Argument For Marriage As A Career Has The Internet All Riled Up

If You’re About To Quit Your Job, Delete These 5 Things
Work/Life

If You’re About To Quit Your Job, Delete These 5 Things

What To Do When You Forget Someone’s Name
Work/Life

What To Do When You Forget Someone’s Name

8 Of The Biggest Signs Your New Boss May Be Toxic
Work/Life

8 Of The Biggest Signs Your New Boss May Be Toxic

TRENDING

Dermatologists Warn About TikTok’s Dangerous Skin Care Lies

Dermatologists Warn About TikTok’s Dangerous Skin Care Lies

‘Menudo: Forever Young’ Looks At The Exploitative Nature Of Boy Bands

‘Menudo: Forever Young’ Looks At The Exploitative Nature Of Boy Bands

‘Selling Sunset’s’ Chrishell Stause Gushes About ‘Super-Open’ Relationship With G Flip

‘Selling Sunset’s’ Chrishell Stause Gushes About ‘Super-Open’ Relationship With G Flip

‘The Bear’ Shines At Showing The Funny Absurdities And Real Horrors Of A Toxic Job

‘The Bear’ Shines At Showing The Funny Absurdities And Real Horrors Of A Toxic Job

There’s One Important Step In Your SPF Regimen That You Might Be Forgetting

There’s One Important Step In Your SPF Regimen That You Might Be Forgetting

Here’s What’s Leaving Netflix In July 2022

Here’s What’s Leaving Netflix In July 2022

Does Stand-Up Comedy Still Have The ‘Right To Offend?’

Does Stand-Up Comedy Still Have The ‘Right To Offend?’

Former MLB Player Jeremy Giambi Hit In Head With Baseball 6 Months Before Suicide

Former MLB Player Jeremy Giambi Hit In Head With Baseball 6 Months Before Suicide

Should You Delete Your Period Tracking App Right Now? Here’s What Experts Say.

Should You Delete Your Period Tracking App Right Now? Here’s What Experts Say.

Queer Screenwriters On Why Inclusive Coming-Of-Age Stories Are Needed Now More Than Ever

Queer Screenwriters On Why Inclusive Coming-Of-Age Stories Are Needed Now More Than Ever

  • Advertise with us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Terms & Conditions

© 2021 Copyright - All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • Culture & Arts
  • Fashion
  • Home & Living
  • Relationships
  • Style & Beauty
  • Weddings
  • Work/Life

© 2021 Copyright - All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT