Here it is copied and pasted:
Mr. **********,
Due to the fact that Feburary is Black History MOnth I am requesting to have the month off to celebrate my heritage and those of color. This should not comeout of my vacation time and it should be paid, I know of other employers who do this (most do actually) so this is more of a heads up.
Sincerely,
********
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I was in shock. I don't even know how to respond.
2007-02-05 10:31:58 · 15 answers · asked by Kevin G 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
TBS not all of us work the fry machine at McDonalds sweetie, some of us are successful
2007-02-05 10:39:36 · update #1
I completely disagree with his approach. I wouldn't want you to get the idea that we all try to punk our employers into letting us off for Black History Month. I didn't get off for Martin Luther King's day either. He should have saved his vacation time and got off like everyone else does; judging from the letter, I doubt his contribution would have been missed at the company anyway as I doubt he has that much to do.
Seriously, there is a right and wrong way to go about this, and his approach speaks of conspicuous professionalism, at best. Is he still working there, or are you figuring out a way to handle that without appearing to be that much different from the other employers, as he suggests. Even if those other employers were black, I seriously doubt that was the case, then again he may have been self-employed ...
2007-02-05 10:42:48 · answer #1 · answered by collard greens with hash browns 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
I am going to assume this is a serious question. Don't give in to that kind of demand. A whole month off with pay just for being black? Nobody else has a similar privilege. Most people can't even get permission to be off just to go to church. This request went beyond ridiculous. If he won a lawsuit against you (which I doubt he could) he would be hurting his own people by making them undesirable to employ. Who needs people who can take off work (with pay!!) at the drop of a hat just because of their race?
I guess that thumbs down came from someone who doesn't believe in equal rights so much as special privileges. That's sad.
2007-02-05 10:49:53 · answer #2 · answered by DJ 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You should fire him. It is extremely unreasonable to expect special treatment because of his race. How can someone with a month of abscence not counting as a vacation AND get paid for not doing anything? This a case of employee abuse...simple as that. A hospital pharmacy I interned at is mostly staffed by African-Americans. The staff threw a brief party to celebrate Black History, but continued their work once they were done eating.
2007-02-05 10:50:37 · answer #3 · answered by Pesto 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well that is a tricky one....mmmm is it really from that employee?, You could do some research into it, and see if any other employers do give their coloured employee's the month off and if they do then the decision to give this employee the month off( with pay) is entirely up to you, but if you do it once you will be obligated to do it all the time.
Good luck with this and let us know how it went.
2007-02-05 10:48:08 · answer #4 · answered by tin_ trunk 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have worked for many large corporations and have never heard of them giving time off for any employee who wishes to celebrate their ethnic or racial background. I think your employee may be just pulling your leg. If however you think he or she is serious, I would suggest the following:
Dear.....Although I respect your desire to celebrate your heritage, I am afraid I must respectfully refuse your request as it would set a precedent that could easily lead to major issues within the company. If I were to grant your request, I would also have to agree to granting that same request to each and every one of my employees who might wish to celebrate their heritage. I'm sure you can understand why this would not be financially realistic for the company and would eventually come to affect our ability to provide you and our other employees with some of the benefits we now offer.
2007-02-05 10:42:35 · answer #5 · answered by Poohcat1 7 · 6⤊ 1⤋
A month is really long.I don't get a month off school when its Black History,so of course nobody should have a month off work when it is Black History.Plus it wouldn't be fair to everyone else.
2007-02-05 10:48:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Um, I could see a single day, but a paid entire month off? I don't think so. It's a nice idea, but some of that just seems pretty lazy on their part.
2007-02-05 10:35:23 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
He hasn't got a leg to stand on in any state. Ask him if he'd like to resign or take an unpaid leave of absence, (if you're willing to accomodate this). Beware though, he might take a dive at work and put in a claim for workman's comp.
2007-02-05 10:42:22 · answer #8 · answered by g s 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
well.... that is hard to respond to...... just tell him its still vacation time because is not a national "month" off, but he can take a day off
2007-02-05 11:42:23 · answer #9 · answered by <3 Ehmrie<3 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How to respond? Simple. Pull a Donald Trump: "You're fired."
2007-02-05 10:41:44 · answer #10 · answered by Venin_Noir 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋