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Reader Responses June 28, 2007
SURVEY SAYS: Will You Be Working on the 4th?
June 28, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A week from
yesterday is the Fourth of July - and, unlike many of our
national holidays, you can't really in good conscience
celebrate "the Fourth" on any other day of the
year.
Reported by Nevin E. Adams
This week I asked readers how their company would celebrate Independence Day.
The vast majority – 78.3% – said they would only close for the Fourth, though nearly 19% said they would close early on the 3 rdand close on the 4 th . Just 2.2% were off the 4 th and 5 th , and about 2% chose “other (generally either off all week, or not closed at all).
As a bonus question, I asked about respondent plans for the day. More than half ( 57% ) will be in every day next week except the 4 th , 16% were only coming in the 2 nd and 3 rd , 7% weren’t coming in at all, 5.8% were in on just the 5 th and 6 th , 2.2% were coming in every day, and 10% chose “other.”
As one reader noted, “Should make for an interesting week….”
Other noteworthy verbatims included:
“Even though I don’t have to, I’ll come into the office for at least a few hours on the 4th – it might be Independence Day for the nation, but not for me at my company….”
“Just the 6th. SOX controls require that I approve some activity on that day.”
“My husband is working on the 4th, therefore, I will have a quiet movie day to myself! Happy Birthday, and Bless Our Troops for Fighting for Our Freedom and! You are always in my thoughts.”
“Seems like everyone but me will be taking some of the rest of the week off as vacation – and I will be trying to hold the fort!”
“Employees will get only the 4th off, but getting them back ‘on’ again for the remainder of the week could be a dubious proposition.”
“This Friday is payday, everyone will be content, we are leaving early on the 3rd. God Blessand our friends at PLANSPONSOR.”
But this week’s Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said, “Whew! I’m glad the survey didn’t take place yesterday when you might have felt compelled to query us on topics in Small Talk about the number of se.xual partners one has had or the number of bathroom trips we make daily.”
Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!
| 1. | Off early on July 3 (3 p.m. EST)since the market is closing early. |
| 2. | We're a bank, so the Fed sets our holiday schedule. They don't tend to give extras. |
| 3. | We're officially off only on the 4th, but I suspect the office will be quite desolate for much of the week. |
| 4. | Ugh this means I can't even stay out late on a great party day! |
| 5. | With the holiday in the middle of the week, we decided not to use to floating holidays to stretch it out; as a foreign owned company, our Japanese President is not offering anything, not even leaving early Tuesday afternoon. |
| 6. | Early out on the 3rd. Probably 2 hours. I know, I know... not much, but whaddya expect, we're a bank. |
| 7. | First time I've taken 2 weeks off in a row in about 10 years! |
| 8. | My husband is working on the 4th, therefore, I will have a quiet movie day to myself! Happy Birthday America and Bless Our Troops For Fighting For Our Freedom and Independence! You are always in my thoughts. |
| 9. | The official day and rule is the 4th only. The unofficial rule is "come on!" it's the 4th of July. No one expects a lot of productivy on any day next week. Projects are on hold and the work assignments are cleaning out old files and our desks. Early dismissals will be the norm because most of management will also be mysterously absent. |
| 10. | As for the other options -- you're kidding, right? |
| 11. | Since we will be in the middle of preparing quarterly reports, we can't take off any more time than just the holiday. |
| 12. | While i indicated off on the 4th - it will be leave early on the 3rd and off the 4th - but i don't want my manager to know this - |
| 13. | Choise to take the 5th or the 6th off. |
| 14. | Seems like everyone but me will be taking some of the rest of the week off as vacation - and I will be trying to hold the fort! |
| 15. | We get off at 3 p.m. on the 3rd, still early enough to squeeze in 18 holes. |
| 16. | Many people are taking the 5th and 6th, but I can't, because I have reports to send to Germany and they don't understand the 4th of July. |
| 17. | Only the 4th is an actual holiday, but many will be taking time before or after or even the whole week! |
| 18. | We will sponsor a pizza lunch for those dedicated souls who do not take vacation on the 3rd. |
| 19. | However, I work for a TPA firm and could work overtime all year round. Since I cannot really enjoy Tuesday night or Wednesday night for "holiday," I will be working the 4th (the phones will be quiet!) and use that time off some other meaningful time... |
| 20. | But many people are taking the whole week or a good portion of it off using vacation to get a long weekend. |
| 21. | Firm policy: We are open when the market is open and we are open when the market is closed. |
| 22. | We're off on the 4th only, but I'm sure it will be very quiet around all of our offices, as a lot of people will schedule their vacations around the 4th. I plan to work and get a lot done without the interruptions! |
| 23. | Getting a day off is always nice, but three and four day weekends are way better! I'd work the 4th in exchange for either one. |
| 24. | We are a financial institution, so that is all we get. But I will be taking the whole week. |
| 25. | My company is a professional services firm, so additional days off cost us significant revenue. |
| 26. | Thankfull we get the day! |
| 27. | We're a big multi-national firm; and our corporate rules are so strict that I doubt HR even paid attention to the fact that the 4th is in the middle of the week. |
| 28. | If the stock market is open, they expect us to be here! |
| 29. | Out an hour early on the 3rd |
| 30. | Its way past time to move Independence Day to the Monday of the week where the 4th falls. |
| 31. | They should close the market more often. |
| 32. | Off on the 4th only, however it seems like 1/3 are taking Monday and Tuesday as well, 1/3 taking Thursday and Friday as well, and 1/3 the whole week off, thankfully I'm in the last group. |
| 33. | If the 4th falls on a Tuesday or Thursday we typically get the Monday or Friday as an extra holiday. End of June is a busy time for us so lots of folks take vacation around the 4th. |
| 34. | I took the 5th and 6th as vacation days, because I can rest assured we will never receive any "extra" days off. This is the company that stays open on Christmas Eve and The Day After Thanksgiving (not an official holiday, but should be). |
| 35. | My company is too cheap to give us more then that. Their attitude is that you can use vacation time if you want time off. |
| 36. | Off at 1:00 on the 3rd, and of course off on the 4th! |
| 37. | But the staff is hoping for (b) |
| 38. | With the Wednesday holiday, an early closing on Tuesday, and a "summer hours" half-day on Friday, I'm mentally off the whole week. --Karl |
| 39. | Whew! I'm glad the survey didn't take place yesterday when you might have felt compelled to query us on topics in Small Talk about the number of se.xual partners one has had or the number of bathroom trips we make daily. |
| 40. | we might get off a little early on the 3rd but that's not determined yet. |
| 41. | off on the fourth only. (I can't get your click boxes to work anymore) |
| 42. | Employees will get only the 4th off, but getting them back "on" again for the remainder of the week could be a dubious proposition. |
| 43. | closing at 1:30 Tuesday |
| 44. | Off on the 4th ... if a couple of projects are completed |
| 45. | Officially, off on the 4th only, but unofficially, employees will start leaving early afternnoon on the 3rd. |
| 46. | My company is only closed for the 4th, but I took the whole week off. |
| 47. | many employees will be taking vacation days on either the 3rd, 5th or both |
| 48. | It will be a very lonely week - many staff members are officially and unofficially taking additional days during the week. |
| 49. | We typically get an extra day when it is on Tuesday or Thursday but not when it falls on Wednesday. |
| 50. | except for one collective bargaining unit--staff are off July 4,5,6 |
| 51. | What am I suppose to do with a day off in the middle of the week? I can't stay up to watch the fireworks because it's a "work night." |
| 52. | This holiday coincides with our "shutdown" week, so we are off the entire week. The day of July 4 is considered a holiday and the other four days in the week are the shutdown days. |
| 53. | We are definately off the 4th. If they let us go early on the 3rd, we usually don't get the word until about 3:00 and a lot of our people start at 6:00a or 7:00a, so there's no break there. I'm sure their hearts in it? |
| 54. | I want to be here next week because so many others will be taking time off it should be quiet and I hope to get major amounts of work done. |
| 55. | My company actually sent a memo saying they weren't giving us MT or ThF in addition to the Wednesday Holiday. They considered it, but I would have been shocked to see them actually give it to us. However, we get a total of 12 holidays including scheduled and "personal choice." We have 8 scheduled holidays this year and 4 personal choice, so if someone really wanted M and T off, they could have taken it using PC holidays. So there's no reason to complain...UNTIL...that is, you hear that European colleagues get 6 weeks minimum and are seldom working at all during the month of August...but that's another story. |
| 56. | This friday is payday, everyone will be content, we are leaving early on the 3rd. God Bless America and our friends at Plan Sponsor |