Retail Store in Central Oklahoma Paying Minimum Wage Forbids Employees Taking Any Time Off Work Until January 1, 2027

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

Oct 16, 2026 9:45 AM EDT

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Young shop assistant in supermarket standing and writing in front of vegetable section — An employee at a store that doesn't let employees take time off during the holiday season.
_{Featured likenesses do not identify those mentioned.}

NO REQUEST OFFS WILL BE ACCEPTED NOW THROUGH JANUARY 1ST 2027

FrostyLocksmith5816 OP For those wondering this is the Crest grocery store in Edmond, OK

Toronto-1975 my visceral loathing of all things Christmas can be traced directly back to my ten years in retail. hostile management, angry nasty customers, long days with no time off whatsoever, completely thankless in every conceivable way...all served up with Mariah Carey screeching out that ghastly All I Want every five minutes starting in September. to this day i hate Christmas it just | S ks.

PhoenixApok It's almost a form of PTSD. Not really joking. I cannot hear Christmas music without my blood pressure spiking and getting irrationally angry. You spend years being told you can't spend the holidays relaxing or with family, AND working the busiest and most hostile days of the year. Of course it starts forming deep seated negative connotations.

xChoke1x Man I'm happy I run a place where my crew can come and go as they please. If your sl getting done, it's correct, and we're all good, I don't give a f what you do. I don't own my employees. Acting like I do....is what creates bad business and bad attitudes. It really isn't hard. Take care of your people, and they take care of you. I've been doing it 25 years and am proud I created a place people enjoy being at.

Suitable Yak_2969 One of the greatest things I've learned from 35 years in the work force: I don't request time off. I inform my employer when I will not be present. They get to decide if they want me back when I am available again, and I am comfortable with that. When I was younger, I had big life things I missed because I felt obligated to my employer like they owned me. I felt that way because if you let them, they will treat you like they own you. Split shifts, unscheduled doubles, clock out

foshjowler When I was in college I worked at a grocery store who told me I couldn't take an unpaid week off during the holidays, and that if I didn't show up I wouldn't have a job when I got back. I laughed it off because I knew I could go across the street and get another minimum wage job the next day.

PixelPeach123 They've got a new policy, which is really fed up and wrong and it's time for you to get a new job. We shouldn't keep letting jobs get away with things like this, but the fact that people stay at jobs like that and no one tries to fight for rights... This whole country s ks because they ab e the sh out of us at jobs because they know that we can't go anywhere else easily in this economy.

Just thefacts_jack The main problem is people expecting businesses to be open through the holidays, and frankly it's not an unreasonable expectation. Not everyone celebrates the same holidays. Retail businesses need employees to be available on weekends and holidays because that's when more people shop, because that's when those people aren't at work. I've thought about this a lot as a retail employee, and especially working the night shift. Someone has to do it, and if you stay in retail it wil

MrRWhitworth 'It's not a request, I'm notifying you I will not be available'

RunningAtTheMouth I did this once at a shop when I was in school. I needed a day off to clear my head. When I handed the paper to my supervisor one of the engineers said "you can't take that day off - we need you for production." "Okay - here's the deal. I'm not going to be here. Do with that what you will. But if you plan on me being here, you're an idiot." I worked there for another couple of years.

diescheide Welcome to retail during the busiest part of the year. This is not uncommon. Not saying you can't be mad but, it shouldn't be surprising.

Trespeon This is extremely normal for a ton of businesses. Black out dates for retailers and shipping companies like UPS or FedEx. There is simply way too much business to be done to afford people taking off and usually offers unlimited overtime to boot.

Flx_Httr29 It's all fine and well for a few days around certain holidays. But if no requests for time off will be accepted for a quarter of the year the company(or just that particular branch) just s ks at staffing

meshe_10101 I'm my 17 years of experience in retail (no longer in retail thankfully) that was mainly to punish the ad workers. The good workers we'd accept most for their requests, within limitations to have the store run. It was a well known thing, and those that didn't work well, called out regularly, etc, wouldn't bother asking as they knew they'd be denied....or they would have the audacity to ask and in the most polite way ever would be laughed at in their face (basically told, you know we

caintowers In fairness, the very liberal, unionized food Co-op I used to work at also had holiday blackouts for PTO use. If you needed an emergency leave of absence or were sick they didn't stand in your way but requests off were denied. It's the busiest time of year.

Jolly_Ad2446 my wife's company has the same rule that nobody can request the day off from November 1st till January 1st and then every single member of management takes multiple days off between November 1st and January 1st

RanchHere We don't take requests off in November-December, however, it's understood when you take the job and sign your employment agreement. But, you still get your sick days. Nothing wrong with calling in sick and taking a day off.

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christmas overworked employees sick leave employee retail workers thanksgiving retail retail worker work time off oklahoma holiday minimum wage store holidays

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