Conference 7.286::digital

238.0. "Saturday as a regular work day" by ANT::MORRISON (Bob M. LMO2/O24 296-5357) Tue Dec 16 1986 12:04

  While reviewing the P&P manual, I could not find anything that
says the normal work week for wage class 4 people is Monday thru
Friday, 8 hours a day. There is, of course, extensive policy on 
schedules and overtime pay for wage class 1-3. However, there are
no restrictions on scheduling a regular work day on Saturday ex-
cept for WC 1-3 overtime pay. This disturbs me. I realize there
are cases where people must work on Saturday due to a heavy work-
load. What I am concerned about is a plant manager scheduling reg-
ular work days on Saturday to make up for a holiday shutdown. This
is happening here (see note 215.*). I would like to see a rule re-
quiring at least three months notice for scheduling Saturday work
days unless such work is required to handle an unexpectedly heavy
workload that could not have been predicted 3 months in advance.
  One argument I have heard in favor of Saturday work is that one
can get out of it by taking vacation time. There are three problems
with this:
1. Unless the memo scheduling Saturday work explicitly allows anyone
to take vacation time, one's supervisor might not approve it.
2. Temporary employees don't have vacation time and would have to
take the time off without pay if they didn't work. New employees
might not have enough vacation time to cover it.
3. Taking vacation time on Saturdays might force cancellation of
future vacation plans.
  For some people, Saturday work is just an inconvenience. For 
others, it could be a great hardship or against their religion.
Is there a precedent for scheduling a regular work day on Saturday
to make up for a holiday shutdown?
  

    
    Of course, DEC in Israel happen to work Sunday through Thursday...