Time to Scrap the "Little Four"

If you are sitting at home reading this, then either, A)You live in Canada (Happy Thanksgiving), B) Work for the US Federal Government as a Federal Employee, B) Work for a bank, C) Might be a school teacher in the US.

Otherwise, I suspect, like me, you are at work. Today, in the US, is Columbus Day a day when we honour...um...Columbus? Or more correctly his arrival in the Americas. Why? I mean, if you want honour Columbus, that's fine but why is it a quasi-holiday?

If you have read my other postings, you know I have serious issues with the so called holidays in the United States, as well as those days that are not officially holidays, yet everything is closed (Easter Sunday). As a former federal contractor, I can tell you about the little four, those holidays that the Federal government is closed on and depending on how the dice are rolled, you probably are expected to "eat" in vacation because your company does not recognize them as actual holidays. The little four are MLK, Presidents, Columbus and Veterans Day. Each, worthy days, yet you are expected to be at work on them in 90% of American businesses. Then there are days like the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving (a Thursday), when you are expected to be at work even though most companies know you will be taking vacation. Ironically, some nice companies will slide the Veterans Day holiday to the Friday after Thanksgiving, thus saving you the vacation day. Others, less friendly, will hold a lottery for who has to work that day. Nice, eh?

And then there are companies that do not recognize any form of holiday, thus they lump all the days off into your paid time off bank and it is your responsibility to manage the time, and if you find you have to work Christmas Day, oh well. By the way, if you are unfortunate enough to be caught in this scheme, you will find that you do not actually get more vacation, but less.

I think it is time, though, to scrap the little four holidays. Really. While it would be nice to have a day off in October, most companies do not recognize the day, so why bother closing some things and not others. The MLK holiday to me has never made sense. Not the recognition, but why it comes after a string of holidays. In fact, if you include Veterans Day, from the 11th of November through Presidents Day, there is barely three weeks, on average between holidays over the course of three months, yet we go from Presidents Day to Memorial Day, more than three months. And in reality it is closer to six months for most people, from New Years until Memorial Day at the end of May.

These holidays are not improving performance, helping employee morale or even leading to cleaner, whiter teeth. They are an annoyance and a hindrance to getting things done. I say it is time to scrap them. We do not need them and we do not use them. Sorry Feds, time to join the rest of us that have to work today.