• polarbear (unregistered)

    also, wtf is a Generalist??

  • (cs)

    Classes are in session here, so no holiday for me.

    Looking out the window (firefox tab with weather.com), I see that it's a beautiful 69 degrees out there.


    Sounds like the human resource department grew from 2-3 people and they needed a new title between assistant and specialist.

  • carl (unregistered)

    Labor Day is a holiday in more than just the US.

  • Marc (unregistered) in reply to polarbear

    Anonymous:
    also, wtf is a Generalist??

    Perhaps better known as "Generalissimo" - and then the e-mail makes perfect sense ;-p

  • (cs)

    WTF?!  I hope there's a special labor day premium...

    That reminds me, in Taiwan we have those Typhoon days (counter part of hurricane in pacific) 

    Whether or not to have the day off is a local government decision.  so sometimes the Taipei city has the day off, while Taipei county does not.

    I live in Hsin-chu City, so happenes that this is like the sillicon valley in Taiwan, a day off here means losses measured in Millions dollars local currency (per company).  Therefore we rarely get a typhoon day. 

    so WTF is usually my reaction when the office building just cross the bridge is closed, and we have to work (in flood) here.  Power outtages are not excuses because we usually just let the generator rolling. 

    so there you go, and happy labor day.

    BTW, heard about Steve Irwin?  personally I think that's a WTF... but it's just me.

     

    Steve H

  • jmo21 (unregistered) in reply to guitarfox

    wondering if this was the Windows Vista team that received this....

  • Pete (unregistered) in reply to jmo21

    More likely the PlayStation 3 folks

  • Was Anders (unregistered)

    And then she wrote the next one:

    Melinda Blevins:

    From: Melinda Blevins
    Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 2:10 PM
    To: All Employees
    Subject: Re: Labor Day

    Just a remind to everyone that 5 PM is official company 
    closing time. 

    Please check in with your manager to see if you will be able 
    to go home for the night.  No one should assume that they 
    have the night off without prior approval from their manager.

    Melinda Blevins
    Captcha: Genius
  • Anonymoose (unregistered)

    I've worked for a shithole of a company with a HR manager like that.  It was a 'family' business

  • Cowbert (unregistered)

    The only wtf I see here is that normally (under normal values of normal usage), a "company holiday" means by default employees are excused from work without needing prior approval from their supervisor. However, some companies may be using the meaning of "floating holiday" in which case, for normal values of normal, usually means an extra paid non-accruable vacation day at the supervisor's discretion typically coinciding with a significant government holiday. However, the only way to determine which defnition of "holiday" the email is referring to is to consult the employee handbook.

  • Dazed (unregistered)
    Alex Papadimoulis:
    In the mean time, check out The Sidebar for some (unedited) reader-posted stories.

    Now you mention it, can anyone explain how one responds to a post in the Sidebar? The Reply/Quote buttons never show up for me in Sidebar posts - not in Opera, nor Firefox, nor IE (and in fact they aren't in the source at all). Does one have to enter something like Ctrl-F7 followed by Alt-Shift-Q, or has the US Govt placed import restrictions on Sidebar posts?

  • (cs)

    <FONT face=Georgia>Here's the reply I would've sent Melinda:</FONT>

     

    From: BiggBru
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 4:00 PM
To: Melinda Blevins
Subject: Re: Labor Day

    Just wanted to remind you that you're a bitch. Big, fat, disgusting bitch.
    Hope you enjoy the "not-so-official" holiday in the company of your 12 cats and battery-powered companion.
    Get a life, instead of making others' miserable. Seriously
    Sincerely,
    BiggBru
     

  • Mike (unregistered) in reply to jmo21
    Anonymous:
    wondering if this was the Windows Vista team that received this....


    Actually, we got the day off today, and had an RC1 party on Friday! Things are looking  real good in Vistaland.

    However, my poor friend at Sony is indeed working manditory overtime shifts yesterday and today.


  • Inmare (unregistered) in reply to carl
    Anonymous:
    Labor Day is a holiday in more than just the US.
    ...celebrated at 1. of May in the rest of the world.
  • Ulric (unregistered) in reply to BiggBru
    BiggBru:

    <FONT face=Georgia>Here's the reply I would've sent Melinda:</FONT>

    Huh, real original.

     

  • rob_squared (unregistered) in reply to polarbear
    Anonymous:
    also, wtf is a Generalist??


    Someone whou couldn't figure out what to learn after getting into college.
  • (cs) in reply to Dazed
    Anonymous:
    Alex Papadimoulis:
    In the mean time, check out The Sidebar for some (unedited) reader-posted stories.

    Now you mention it, can anyone explain how one responds to a post in the Sidebar? The Reply/Quote buttons never show up for me in Sidebar posts - not in Opera, nor Firefox, nor IE (and in fact they aren't in the source at all). Does one have to enter something like Ctrl-F7 followed by Alt-Shift-Q, or has the US Govt placed import restrictions on Sidebar posts?



    The unregistered and unwashed masses are not allowed to post there. Register for an account if you need to be a part of the discussion. Make yourself accountable.

    sincerely,
    Richard Nixon

  • StupidPeopleTrick (unregistered) in reply to Mike

    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    wondering if this was the Windows Vista team that received this....


    Actually, we got the day off today, and had an RC1 party on Friday! Things are looking  real good in Vistaland.

    However, my poor friend at Sony is indeed working manditory overtime shifts yesterday and today.


    I hear ya Mike but in my MS stay it all depended on which group you work with.

    The funny thing is (and I mean ouside of MS), the PMs are often to blame for the schedule wtf, but they are never around on these 'mandatory work on holiday' days.  The managers might stop off between the first 9 and the last 9 for an appearence, but that is it.

    .... need a holiday, move to New Zealand. No worries.

    -SPT

  • Frost (unregistered) in reply to Inmare

    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    Labor Day is a holiday in more than just the US.
    ...celebrated at 1. of May in the rest of the world.

    Gotta love Communist holidays!  Then again, given how much work got done on any given day on the collective farms in the USSR, how would you tell the difference?

  • (cs) in reply to Ulric
    Ulric:
    BiggBru:

    <FONT face=Georgia>Here's the reply I would've sent Melinda:</FONT>

    Huh, real original.

     

    <FONT face=Georgia>Thanks. I pride myself in my originality as well as being able to detect lazy sarcasm.</FONT>

  • (cs) in reply to polarbear

    guess her boss just took a more literal meaning of labor day

  • (cs) in reply to Richard Nixon

    Gah,

    I just registered after many weeks of lurking, and you don't have my timezone on the form !!!!

    Anyway,

    Welcome your newest member ;)

  • LaurieF (unregistered) in reply to Frost

    Anonymous:
    Gotta love Communist holidays!  Then again, given how much work got done on any given day on the collective farms in the USSR, how would you tell the difference?

    Communist? don't be an idiot. And a correction to the previous poster, it's not May Day in the rest of the world. From Wikipedia:

    In New Zealand, Labour Day is a public holiday held on the fourth Monday in October. Its origins are traced back to the eight-hour working day movement that arose in the newly founded Wellington colony in 1840, primarily because of carpenter Samuel Parnell's refusal to work more than eight hours a day. He encouraged other tradesman to also only work for eight hours a day and in October 1840 a workers' meeting passed a resolution supporting the idea. On 28 October 1890, the 50th anniversary of the eight-hour day was commemorated with a parade. The event was then celebrated annually in late October as either Labour Day or Eight-Hour Demonstration Day. In 1899 government legislated that the day be a public holiday from 1900. The day was celebrated on different days in different provinces. This led to ship owners complaining that seamen were taking excessive holidays by having one Labour Day in one port then another in their next port. In 1910 the government "Mondayised" the holiday so that it would be observed on the same day throughout the nation. See: Labour Day: A History - from NZHistory.net.nz

    What's communist about that?

  • Miguel Farah (unregistered)

    I don't know how it is with federal and state laws in the USA, but around here (Chile), this e-mail would constitute proof of illegal behaviour and the company would receive a BIG fine from the (equivalent to) Labor Department - national holidays are NOT subject to the discretion of a company [1].


    [1] Actually, the law allows exceptions for some kinds of jobs, but those have to be spelled out in the employee's contract, there must be a close day to take as an alternate holiday AND there's a yearly limit on the number of times this can be done.

  • Bramster (unregistered) in reply to guitarfox

    Not a WTF.

    It's a TOIAEIA




     Think of it as Evolution in Action.



    With apologies to Niven and Pournelle

  • Bramster (unregistered) in reply to Cowbert
    Anonymous:
    The only wtf I see here is that normally (under normal values of normal usage), a "company holiday" means by default employees are excused from work without needing prior approval from their supervisor. However, some companies may be using the meaning of "floating holiday" in which case, for normal values of normal, usually means an extra paid non-accruable vacation day at the supervisor's discretion typically coinciding with a significant government holiday. However, the only way to determine which defnition of "holiday" the email is referring to is to consult the employee handbook.


    I guess I'm happy to live in Canada, where we put a "U" into Labour.

    Labour day is a statuatory holiday, and as such is not at the discretion of Belinda Bitches

  • (cs)
    Alex Papadimoulis:

    Today is Labor Day: a United States holiday mourning the end of summer, marking the last weekend for cookouts, and celebrating the economic and social achievements of workers around the country. And being a federal holiday, I don't post new content. Instead of posting a classic article, I thought I'd share this email that I.Y. received last week; looks like not all of us Americans will be enjoying the long weekend ... 

    From: Melinda Blevins
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 2:06 PM
To: All Employees
Subject: Labor Day

    Just a remind to everyone that Monday, September 4th, 2006 is
an official company holiday.
    

    Please check in with your manager to see if you will be able to
have the day off.  No one should assume that they have the day
off without prior approval from their manager.
    

    Melinda Blevins
Human Resources Generalist

    Tomorrow: Secure Enterprise Security. In the mean time, check out The Sidebar for some (unedited) reader-posted stories.


    <FONT face=Tahoma>If it's Labor Day, shouldn't we be all working right now? I mean, the name says it all... If they meant the otherway around, why not change it to something like "Rest Day" or "No One Is Required To Come To The Office Today Day", or "Day Off Day" or something like that...

    BTW, Labor Day here is May 1 and usually employees here would love to report on that day because that would mean double pay for them... I wish my company is like that...</FONT>



  • (cs)

    It seems like the most logical explanation is a typo - she left out the word "not"

  • Asif Youcare (unregistered) in reply to Mike

    .. had an RC1 party on Friday! ...

    Its a pity it wasn't actually an RC.  Allchin's comments made it clear that it was actually a mature beta.  RCs are products that you're winning to ship 'as is' unless show stoppper bugs are found.



  • Asif Youcare (unregistered) in reply to Asif Youcare

    I meant "willing" rather than "winning", and only two Ps in stopper, and "It's" rather than "Its".

    Stupid me.


  • (cs) in reply to jesirose
    jesirose:
    It seems like the most logical explanation is a typo - she left out the word "not"

    No one should assume that they have the day 
    NOT off without prior approval from their manager?
    No one should assume that they have NOT the day 
    off without prior approval from their manager?
    No one should assume that they NOT have the day 
    off without prior approval from their manager?
  • me (unregistered) in reply to deathkrush
    deathkrush:
    jesirose:
    It seems like the most logical explanation is a typo - she left out the word "not"

    No one should assume that they have the day 
    NOT off without prior approval from their manager?
    No one should assume that they have NOT the day 
    off without prior approval from their manager?
    No one should assume that they NOT have the day 
    off without prior approval from their manager?

    No,

    Just a remind to everyone that Monday, September 4th, 2006 is NOT an official company holiday.

    btw I use Opera and no problems with the reply/quote buttons

  • (cs) 
    
Melinda Blevins
Human Resistance General



    There, fixed the signature.

  • Anonymous (unregistered)

    I have had to work on a federal holiday JUST because someone wanted me to(with NO benefit to them), and because some IDIOT did something ***I*** had to fix!  In such cases, I think there should be a law that they are required to do something more difficult(in general and for more difficult for them)  to help ME out!  If I can't come up with enough stuff, it should help out the state or country.  They should ALSO not be able to take credit for any benefit.

    That woul go a LONG way towards making things better.

     

    Steve

  • (cs) in reply to Miguel Farah

    Anonymous:

    around here (Chile),  - national holidays are NOT subject to the discretion of a company [1].

     

    You see, there are *some* benifits to living in former dictatatorship!

    chao pesca'o

     

  • aaron (unregistered) in reply to jmo21
    Anonymous:
    wondering if this was the Windows Vista team that received this....


    More like all of EA.
  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to rmg66
    rmg66:

    Anonymous:

    around here (Chile),  - national holidays are NOT subject to the discretion of a company [1].



    You see, there are *some* benifits to living in former dictatatorship!

    chao pesca'o

    Gratis weapons from usa to kill comunist?



  • (cs) in reply to Qrmu

    Or even...

    Melinda Blevins
    Human Resistance General
    Remember: Resistance is Futile

  • LRB (unregistered) in reply to polarbear

    Anonymous:
    also, wtf is a Generalist??

     

    In this case generalist = pyschotic bitch

  • (cs)

    So what was wrong with this e-mail? (besides using remind instead of reminder).

  • wavenger (unregistered) in reply to GoatCheez

    The WTF is that she first declares that monday is an Official Company Holiday. This means that it is a holy day (which is antiquated, but generally translates to 'day off'), that the scope of the holiday is company-wide, and that it is officially sanctioned. It's as close as you can get to saying "Everybody gets the day off" as you can get without actually saying it.

    Then she goes on to say that nobody in the company gets the day off unless their manager says so. You would, at the very least, expect the default operation to be not working, and to override this if the manager gives you specific instructions to come in on Monday.

    It's almost Orwellian, come to think of it. She is announcing victory in the face of defeat, declaring rations have been increased when they have been cut in half, and saying that black is white.

  • (cs) in reply to wavenger
    Anonymous:
    The WTF is that she first declares that monday is an Official Company Holiday. This means that it is a holy day (which is antiquated, but generally translates to 'day off'), that the scope of the holiday is company-wide, and that it is officially sanctioned. It's as close as you can get to saying "Everybody gets the day off" as you can get without actually saying it.

    Then she goes on to say that nobody in the company gets the day off unless their manager says so. You would, at the very least, expect the default operation to be not working, and to override this if the manager gives you specific instructions to come in on Monday.

    It's almost Orwellian, come to think of it. She is announcing victory in the face of defeat, declaring rations have been increased when they have been cut in half, and saying that black is white.


    Ah, so the WTF is that she reffered to the day as an official company holiday, when she should have just said it's a holiday (or National Holiday).... That's SO outrageous!
  • Nick (unregistered) in reply to Cowbert
    Anonymous:
    The only wtf I see here is that normally (under normal values of normal usage), a "company holiday" means by default employees are excused from work without needing prior approval from their supervisor. However, some companies may be using the meaning of "floating holiday" in which case, for normal values of normal, usually means an extra paid non-accruable vacation day at the supervisor's discretion typically coinciding with a significant government holiday. However, the only way to determine which defnition of "holiday" the email is referring to is to consult the employee handbook.


    I'm not even sure if that qualifies it as a WTF.  Many companies (including most service providers) cannot just have their entire company take off for the long weekend.  The world does not just stop because some day is considered a holiday.  Someone needs stay at the office to man the phones.
  • Wenham (unregistered) in reply to Frost

    <font color="#ff0000">Communist </font>holiday? Try <font color="#006400">Pagan</font>.

    I'm in the UK and as far as I know May Day is not a propaganda event for the Reds here.

    Yours,

    Comrade Wenham
    Worker:#233010281-IT

  • nonymous brave (unregistered) in reply to Frost
    Anonymous:

    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    Labor Day is a holiday in more than just the US.
    ...celebrated at 1. of May in the rest of the world.

    Gotta love Communist holidays!  Then again, given how much work got done on any given day on the collective farms in the USSR, how would you tell the difference?



    Yeah, communist equals terrorist. May I have the detergent you use to wash your brain?
  • Rob Garrett (unregistered) in reply to Nick
    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    The only wtf I see here is that normally (under normal values of normal usage), a "company holiday" means by default employees are excused from work without needing prior approval from their supervisor. However, some companies may be using the meaning of "floating holiday" in which case, for normal values of normal, usually means an extra paid non-accruable vacation day at the supervisor's discretion typically coinciding with a significant government holiday. However, the only way to determine which defnition of "holiday" the email is referring to is to consult the employee handbook.


    I'm not even sure if that qualifies it as a WTF.  Many companies (including most service providers) cannot just have their entire company take off for the long weekend.  The world does not just stop because some day is considered a holiday.  Someone needs stay at the office to man the phones.


    Sure, in which case this rule is usually indicated in the company handbook, new employees are made aware of this rule, and alternative holidays are sanctioned by the company for those working on public holidays.  At the very least overtime should be paid for employees working on holidays.

    Thought: If HR requested everyone work on Dec 25th, how many would actually turn up to the office to work?
  • Olle (unregistered) in reply to Frost
    Anonymous:

    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    Labor Day is a holiday in more than just the US.
    ...celebrated at 1. of May in the rest of the world.

    Gotta love Communist holidays!  Then again, given how much work got done on any given day on the collective farms in the USSR, how would you tell the difference?

  • Olle (unregistered) in reply to Frost
    Anonymous:

    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    Labor Day is a holiday in more than just the US.
    ...celebrated at 1. of May in the rest of the world.

    Gotta love Communist holidays!  Then again, given how much work got done on any given day on the collective farms in the USSR, how would you tell the difference?

     Maybe you should read some, before making such comments. 1 May has nothing to do with communism, it is a socialist holyday. Also I think they worked quite a bit more than you do in those farms (the risk of ending up in Siberia othewise might have helped).

    /Olle

    PS Most things in the US are just pathetic copies of what other countries have done for hunderds of years (read some history man)
     

  • (cs) in reply to Olle
    Anonymous:

     Maybe you should read some, before making such comments. 1 May has nothing to do with communism, it is a socialist holyday.

    And the difference is....?

     

    Also I think they worked quite a bit more than you do in those farms (the risk of ending up in Siberia othewise might have helped).

    The productivity of those collective farms was pathetic.
     

  • Andy (unregistered) in reply to Miguel Farah

    Anonymous:
    I don't know how it is with federal and state laws in the USA, but around here (Chile), this e-mail would constitute proof of illegal behaviour and the company would receive a BIG fine from the (equivalent to) Labor Department - national holidays are NOT subject to the discretion of a company [1].


    [1] Actually, the law allows exceptions for some kinds of jobs, but those have to be spelled out in the employee's contract, there must be a close day to take as an alternate holiday AND there's a yearly limit on the number of times this can be done.

     

    In the US this is legal. The concept of freedom means (or used to mean) that the government doesn't tell everyone how to run their lives or their business. National holidays determine what the government does. Federal offices are closed on Labor Day. Private businesses and citizens get to decide for themselves what to do on that day.

Leave a comment on “Laboring Holiday”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #:

Log Out

« Return to Article