Is it worthwhile sacrificing holidays with the family?

The festive season is a busy time ine the retail trade, with many stores offering extended trading hours. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi/Independent Media

The festive season is a busy time ine the retail trade, with many stores offering extended trading hours. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi/Independent Media

Published Dec 30, 2016

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Durban - Christmas and New Year’s days are two special public holidays to be with family and friends but ever increasingly, it is becoming a day of work.

Employers, however, believe everyone who worked on Christmas or New Year did so voluntarily, and that they are adequately rewarded for working on holidays.

The Daily News spoke to several workers from different retail stores who worked on Christmas Day.

They were paid double their daily salary but the rate earned did not amount to much, they said.

A worker said: “Sometimes we don’t have a choice because December is the busiest period for retailers. I have since made peace with working under these conditions.”

Another employee said they had no choice but to work over Christmas and New Year.

“I’d really love to spend Christmas and New Year’s with my family. I don’t blame the employer for not having free time on these holidays because it’s the nature of the business we are involved in,” she said.

The Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) said it was against people spending time at work instead of with their families.

Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said in some cases employees were exposed to exploitation.

“We promote 40 hours of work per week, eight hours per day and public holidays for families. It is a time for relaxation or taking care of your families. We understand that the retail sector is busy at this time, hence employees find themselves working instead of spending time with their families,” said Dlamini.

He said this exposed people to exploitation.

“We know the retail stores pay their employees overtime for working on holidays. We still do not promote work on holidays, but it would seem it is something that has to be done,” said Dlamini.

Moses Abboy, manager at Spar North Beach, said it would not make business sense to close his store on both holidays.

“I will open on New Year. What I also normally do is employ students on a part-time basis on holidays.

“We have three students at present, so when we get to New Year some of my staff members will be relieved,” said Abboy.

Mark Godfrey, Spar chief financial officer, said: “In terms of keeping up morale, regions celebrate the busy period after the event with local functions, including team braais, family days and special bonuses.”

He said the Spar head office could not comment on what individual Spar retailers did in managing their own staff, because they were independently owned, but said most would ensure strategies were in place to motivate their staff.

Godfrey said from a Spar wholesale perspective, part of the induction process with any new employee was to emphasise the nature of retail and the hours involved, particularly on public holidays.

“We also ensure that our staff understand that we exist to support our customers (retailers) and that without our commitment, the retailers cannot run successful businesses,” he said.

In preparation for the festive season, they encouraged their warehouse staff to take leave up to October and from the end of January to ensure they were not fatigued over the busy period.

Wim Theron, Pick * Pay group executive of operations, said staff were given an option to take Christmas Day off.

“We promote spending time with loved ones, hence the option for our staff to take Christmas Day off to spend with their families and friends.

“Staff members who choose to work are paid public holiday rates and shifts are shorter. In the run-up to the holiday, our staff members are treated to a Christmas meal,” said Theron.

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