Holiday observance must you work!

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Holiday observance must you work!

My employer posted a list of 11 paid holidays and know the company requests that the less senoir personnel work through the holidays.I utilized this period of time for rest and relaxation. Does the employer have the right to do this.

Asked on May 23, 2009 under Business Law, Illinois

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 14 years ago | Contributor

Of course you do not have to work over a holiday weekend. Slavery and involuntary servitude were abolished by the 13th Amendment about 1866. But of course, there is no law saying that employer can't fire you if you don't work.

In fact, absent an employment contract or union collective bargaining agreement, an employer can fire you at will, with or without cause, so long as the employer is not engaging in any illegally discriminatory acts, such as requiring only a protected class -- such as one defined by race, gender, veteran status, age, religion, disability, etc. -- to work the bad shifts.  Less senior staff is rarely a protected class.


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