More Than A Third Of Employers Require Thanksgiving Work Shifts

Be grateful if you have no commitments beyond cooking, seeing family, and eating turkey this Thanksgiving. Having the holiday completely off isn't as common as you may think.

Though 97% of employers designate Thanksgiving as a paid day off, 37% will still require at least some employees to work shifts on the holiday, according to new data from Bloomberg BNA, the legal, regulatory, and business information subsidiary of Bloomberg.

Unsurprisingly, workers in hospitals, health-care facilities, and public safety jobs are far more likely to be assigned Thanksgiving hours. Nurses and physicians, firefighters, police officers, and dispatchers are among those required to be on duty.

By contrast, workers in manufacturing and small businesses are far more likely to see generous Thanksgiving holiday schedules. Nearly 90% of manufacturers surveyed by Bloomberg BNA had designated both Thanksgiving and the following Friday as paid days off, and more than 75% of businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees did the same.

Workers who are asked to come in during Thanksgiving typically receive extra compensation. Many employers pay time-and-a-half, double-time, or overtime plus compensatory time for employees working Thanksgiving shifts.

Overall, the percentage of people being asked to work this Thanksgiving is up from recent years. From 2009 to 2011, 28% to 29% of employees worked some hours on Thanksgiving. In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, however, that figure routinely exceeded 40%.