Company gets rid of bonus incentives to work on holidays, then reprimands employees for not volunteering to work: ‘You only get as much loyalty as you pay for’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jan 6, 2026 4:00 AM EST

When a workplace is set in a way that relies on employees working unconventionally, this workplace should figure out a way to ensure they are actually able to find employees willing to do the job. Any job no one wants to do offers some kind of reward, an incentive, to ensure that people would still want to sign up for it. 

The company in the story below, for example, requires staff on site 7 days a week. It means that people must agree to work weekends and holidays to ensure the work gets done on time. In a competitive line of work, where there are enough workplaces offering the same role but without demanding employees work weekends and holidays, this one company must find a way to convince people to work for them.

Up until now, the company offered bonus incentives to employees willing to work weekends and holidays. An employee who agrees to work weekends gets a 2x overtime rate, and a 3x overtime rate for those who work during the holidays. That was a great incentive to ensure the workers are happy to pitch in and work during these unconventional days, while the company profits from the 7-day work schedule.

However, this year, for some unknown reason, the company decided to change things up. "Effective immediately, there would no longer be a holiday incentive". The company decided that if an employee agrees to work on a paid holiday, they would be paid regularly and therefore forfeit the holiday hours. Following this announcement, you'd think that the company would not be surprised that there would be no "volunteers" to work during the holidays, but they were still disappointed to discover they had no workers during Christmas and the days after New Year's Eve.

The lack of available and willing workers obviously meant that no work was done during the holidays, which directly led the company to a massive money loss due to the penalties for missed deadlines. Probably a lot more money than what they would have paid if they kept the bonus incentive for their employees intact…

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  • Modern Conference Room in Urban Office Setting, title: "The company now stands to lose a six-figure amount in penalties" HealthCare ersana
    via Capture Crew

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • My company got rid of bonus incentive to work on holidays, is mad nobody worked on their holidays.

    The company I work for does this thing where to win clients they base all their contracts around real days and not business days.
    via MeesterPepper
  • This means that we need staff on site 7 days a week and all holidays to keep on top of turnaround times and avoid late penalties.
    via MeesterPepper
  • However, this is skilled white-collar STEM work that requires a solid foundation in biology and chemistry - they need to offer weekends off and paid holidays at a minimum to be competitive with other employers in the industry.
    via MeesterPepper
  • So for years, they offered a 2x overtime rate for weekend hours, and if you worked on your paid holiday off, you'd get full holiday pay plus 3x OT for all hours worked.
    via MeesterPepper
  • So shortly before Christmas, HR sent an email stating that effective immediately, there would no longer be a holiday incentive.
    via MeesterPepper
  • "Paid holidays are an extra benefit meant for you to have time to relax. If you choose to work any hours on a paid holiday, you forfeit the holiday hours.
    via MeesterPepper
  • And as a reminder, overtime is only after 40 hours of actual work working on your regularly scheduled day will not count." Got in this morning to find an email from my management team that they're "surprised and disappointed" that only two people volunteered to work on December 25th and 26th, and nobody worked January 1st or 2nd, in spite of multiple requests for volunteers.
    via MeesterPepper
  • Because nobody was "willing to be team players", the company now stands to lose close to a six figure amount in penalties for missed turnaround times.
    via MeesterPepper
  • Oh well, so sad. You only get as much loyalty as you're willing to pay for.
    via MeesterPepper
  • RockyMntnView Them: "Holidays are for you to stay home and relax." Also them: "WT, everyone stayed home and relaxed on the holidays! Make it make sense!
    via RockyMntnView
  • OP MeesterPepper The cynical part of me thinks they're laying the groundwork to get rid of paid holidays as a benefit. Come labor day they'll point at this as justification
    via MeesterPepper
  • Man in Business Suit Sitting Alone in an Empty Office
    via Aflo Images

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Great-Egret I'd be dusting off your CV and speaking to a recruiter asap. Just in case! With skills in Bio-Chem something better is out there.
    via Great-Egret
  • OP MeesterPepper The hunt for something new started a while ago. I've got my sights set on relocating to a new state so that adds some challenge, but there are definitely opportunities I'm pursuing.
    via MeesterPepper
  • MyLadyBits Who were the fools who worked Christmas?
    via MyLadyBits
  • OP MeesterPepper The folks who don't celebrate Christmas and get a different holiday in exchange
    via MeesterPepper
  • Electrical-Guide-338 It takes many months to land a job these days. Start applying now.
    via Electrical-Guide-338
  • OP MeesterPepper Way ahead of you. The hunt started months ago
    via MeesterPepper
  • Reset-Username A company I worked for came up with "Blackout Days", days where you will not be able to take vacation/PTO. They also made it so that if you don't work certain days before or after holidays, then you will not get paid for the holiday. I could see some version of this heading your way.
    via Reset-Username
  • OP MeesterPepper We already have "blackout weeks". Earlier this year they also instituted a policy that time off requests have to be submitted 40 days in advance. So yes I imagine more bullshit is coming
    via MeesterPepper
  • Risc_Terilia >nobody was "willing to be team players" Their job on the team was to pay the rest of the team to do the work, let's think again about who wasn't a team player.
    via Risc_Terilia
  • Toni164 why is it everytime they try to save money they end up costing themselves more money
    via Toni164
  • BlueCollarElectro What exactly did they expect? -Go cheap, you get cheap results Imfao
    via BlueCollarElectro
  • KyomiiKitsune FAFO! Good on all those team members who did not work. I hope they enjoyed the time off with their families and loved ones.
    via KyomiiKitsune

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