Archived Target and Church

[Guest]

Changing your schedule to accommodate going to church on Sundays is too much of a hassle. Besides, you're not gonna go to Hell if you can't go to church on Sunday. Not trying to start a fight or anything but church attendance isn't a requirement to enter heaven.

 

[luna831]

Um, Federal law says employers are required to make "reasonable accommodations," for one's religious beliefs. Thus, so long as it's a single day of the week, they are required to give you your religion's holy day off if you request it without retaliation. (No drastic cutting of hours, etc.).

You for retail need to be able to work weekends other wise they will cut your hours

 

[bikebryan]

Reasonable accommodations is in the eye of the judge or arbiter. Make this kind of stink and your name will be spoken with bad taste by all store management. Are you really sure it is worth it?

When I was at Target the STL would not approve any weekend shift preferences other than "open." That policy was challenged more than once and nothing ever came of it.

 

[signingminion]

Put in your availability change with the note about religious thing. See what happens. Is your etl-hr or etl for your work center more apt to put it through if you ask nicely?

I have had off Friday or Saturday for years. Even in market, even as a pa. It's one day that is unavailable to spend with my husband. The one ctl who tried to give me crap was reminded I've been married longer than he's known his fiancee-one day he'd understand. Etl put it right through.

Almost all new tms are hired with the expectation they are available all weekend. The store won't lack without you.

 

[daninnj]

Am I the only one that sees this topic and sings "Targeeeet and church" ala Hozier??

 

[redeye58]

I can prove that I am a church goer and that I'm not lying just to have Sunday's off. And from what I can tell I'm one of the few people at work that is religious and goes to church so it's not like everyone is dying to have Sunday's off.

So did you poll all your coworkers.
Did you take into account differing religions & practices?
Depth of devotion to one's faith?
Regardless, it harkens back to when you were hired & the availability you gave.
You & the STL had a compromise but now you want to extend it further under federal protections.
If they give you every Sunday off, what's next?
Oh, Wednesday nights too because you can prove you 'were a church-goer'.
It might've carried more weight if you'd outlined your request at the time of hire but you didn't, presumably to get the job.
You can push for accommodation but, as others have said, it will come at a cost.
You may see your hrs cut severely; you could be moved to a less-desirable workcenter.

 

[HappyMonday]

You for retail need to be able to work weekends other wise they will cut your hours

That's a myth to get you to work every weekend. At my store I work with a girl who is not available Sunday and gets 32+ hours a week. Plus most work centers get ever other weekend off. Cutting hours for not working the weekend doesn't happen at my store. If you have a good hr they can figure out how to do it.

 

[DoWork]

I don't care what days I'm off in all seriousness. To allow this kind of stuff, though, someone else is working in the church goers place. Essentially, the church goers get more preferential treatment as far as days off go. Unfair, but that's life in the south.

/off-topic-a-bit

 

[Kartman]

Work trumps religion.

Religion doesn't pay the bills.

It just makes you feel better.

 

[Guest]

Make a sacrifice and go to early services and then head straight to work. Problem solved.

 

[luna831]

That's a myth to get you to work every weekend. At my store I work with a girl who is not available Sunday and gets 32+ hours a week. Plus most work centers get ever other weekend off. Cutting hours for not working the weekend doesn't happen at my store. If you have a good hr they can figure out how to do it.

Asants.

 

[RedDog]

That's a myth to get you to work every weekend. At my store I work with a girl who is not available Sunday and gets 32+ hours a week. Plus most work centers get ever other weekend off. Cutting hours for not working the weekend doesn't happen at my store. If you have a good hr they can figure out how to do it.

Ah and here in lies the problem. Yes some work centers rotate weekends and some team members when they are hired are hired with availability that has them not working on Sunday. So what does you HR do to take care of this? Hire people who say they have open availability on the weekends so they can plug the gaps. Now what happens when those people no decide they do not want to work on Sunday? And that is the problem. When you say whatever they want to get a job and then do not live up to that, then you cause a problem. If you are up front and honest, you might not get the job but, at least you know you will not have a problem if you do.

 

[Patty]

We have a lot of things that need to be done weekly in our church. However, these are spread out throughout the course of the week. Sisters of the Holy Rosary take care of all the linens, the building committee usually does the flowers, and there are volunteer sheets for praying before the eucharist and saying novenas for people on the prayer list.
Maybe you could suggest to your church that they spread their duties out instead of trying to cram them into one day.
I see that you stated you could prove that you are a church goer and that religion is more important to you than to other tms. How do you know that? Did someone ask you to prove that you are a Real church-goer?

 

[commiecorvus]

I was lucky that I got my Saturdays off because I was always willing to work Sundays (that and Signing Ninja tends to get at least one day on the weekend off anyway).
But I always made it clear I want to shul and Jews do set aside the entire not to work.
Now in New Jersey people are going to respect that more than they will in other states.

 

[awbuckit]

A lady at my store is allowed to take off an entire month in the summer for Ramadan every year.
Heaven forbid anyone should ask off for Christmas Eve though.
Double standard much?

 

[commiecorvus]

Considering Ramadan isn't a non-working holiday unless she goes someplace else to celebrate I can't see why see why she would need the time off.
That is unless Spot had an issue with giving her the time and a place to do prayers but those don't take long and don't seem like they would be an issue.

 

[thetargetman]

Considering Ramadan isn't a non-working holiday unless she goes someplace else to celebrate I can't see why see why she would need the time off.
That is unless Spot had an issue with giving her the time and a place to do prayers but those don't take long and don't seem like they would be an issue.

yea. I usually bring my Tallis and Tefillin to work and Daven (pray) in the break room. no one has ever had a problem with it.

 

[redeye58]

If it occurs outside the retail blackout period (yeh, they SAY there's no blackout but...) & she's not in a specialized workcenter, it shouldn't be a problem. Likely she's traveling to be with family.
Even if it's within the blackout period, she may have worked out an agreement with leadership to be there during crucial times.
Despite the increase in diverse cultures here, much of the emphasis in retail is still geared toward Christian holidays. Heck, I for one wouldn't have minded covering for folks so they could practice their faith.
When I was still a specialist (later GSA), I had alternating weekends off & my church knew it. There was never any flack given because I wasn't there every week nor was my level of faith questioned.
If you're truly devout & must attend every service, you need to find a job that accommodates you AND you need to tell your employer up front.

 

[konk]

We have a lot of things that need to be done weekly in our church. However, these are spread out throughout the course of the week. Sisters of the Holy Rosary take care of all the linens, the building committee usually does the flowers, and there are volunteer sheets for praying before the eucharist and saying novenas for people on the prayer list.
Maybe you could suggest to your church that they spread their duties out instead of trying to cram them into one day.
I see that you stated you could prove that you are a church goer and that religion is more important to you than to other tms. How do you know that? Did someone ask you to prove that you are a Real church-goer?

I would like to be a member of a church where all duties were shared so that no one would have to be on the payroll.

 

[redeye58]

We only have three on payroll: The pastor, the organist/music director & the secretary (non-member).
There's a buildings & grounds group that takes care of cutting grass, doing minor maintenance/repairs, planting flowers, setting up tables, etc for events.

 

[Guest]

You can usually get away with shafting a protestant church goer because boss can say "she/he's lying" but a boss won't deny a Muslim or Jewish person availability for church services because the boss will think "it will be a shit storm if I say no". If you say no to the Muslim or Jewish person your life will be destroyed. It's just the way it is. Some groups can be offended and inconvenienced while others cannot. Double standard but that's Murica. Just think of the headlines and tell me which will be trendier and get more tweets and likes on Twitter and Facebook.

Target says no to church for Christian employee Target denies Muslim worker church services


Have an all or nothing approach. Let workers from all religions have availability for church services or none at all. A month off? That is a joke. I would go more for "make a sacrifice" approach. If you are really dedicated to your religion then you should do your best to find time to attend.


I'm sure some liberals on here will blast me but my opinion on the double standard when it comes to prejudice and discrimination is my opinion. I not am trendy.

 

[Retail Girl]

You can usually get away with shafting a protestant church goer because boss can say "she/he's lying" but a boss won't deny a Muslim or Jewish person availability for church services because the boss will think "it will be a shit storm if I say no". If you say no to the Muslim or Jewish person your life will be destroyed. It's just the way it is. Some groups can be offended and inconvenienced while others cannot. Double standard but that's Murica. Just think of the headlines and tell me which will be trendier and get more tweets and likes on Twitter and Facebook.

Target says no to church for Christian employee Target denies Muslim worker church services


Have an all or nothing approach. Let workers from all religions have availability for church services or none at all. A month off? That is a joke. I would go more for "make a sacrifice" approach. If you are really dedicated to your religion then you should do your best to find time to attend.


I'm sure some liberals on here will blast me but my opinion on the double standard when it comes to prejudice and discrimination is my opinion. I not am trendy.

I don't know any Muslim who would be upset about being denied going to church services. Now, if they weren't able to attend weekly prayers at a mosque, that would be a different story.

 

[amor12]

Well i dont why is big deal having one sunday off. i know is retail but thats why you are a part time worker and tartget said flexible schedule when you apply!

 

[Retail Girl]

They meant flexible for them...

 

[3LetterDevil]

Personally, I see no problem with requesting one day of the week off for religious reasons. Hell, we have people with limited availability for less "valid" reasons....like, "I don't have a babysitter," even though all of their kids are old enough to be home by themselves and aren't involved in any extracurricular activities.