And now some Feb 29th Frivolity

[beable]

the Leap Day employee finally gets her birthday off this year

by ALISON GREEN on FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Alison: It’s Leap Day on Saturday, and that means we must revisit this letter (and its update) about an employee born on Leap Day who isn’t allowed to have her birthday off except every four years.

Telling an employee born on Leap Day she can’t have her birthday off (the original)

LW: One of the perks provided by my workplace is a paid day off on your birthday (or the day after if it falls on a weekend or holiday) provided by the firm and not taken from your own vacation days, and a gift card which works at several restaurants in our city. Once a month, a cake is also provided at lunch for everyone as an acknowledgement of everyone who has a birthday that month.

There is an employee on my team who was born in a leap year on February 29. Since she only has a birthday every four years, she does not get a day off or a gift card and is not one of the people the cake acknowledges. She has complained about this and is trying to push back so she is included.

The firm doesn’t single out or publicly name anyone that has a birthday. People take the day off and that is it, nothing is said. The gift card is quietly enclosed with their pay stub. The cake is put in the lunchroom without fanfare for anyone that wants some. There is no email or card that goes around and no celebrating at work. If there was I could see her point, but since everything is done quietly/privately, she is not losing out on anything. My manager feels her complaints are petty and she needs to be more professional. I agree with him.

She has only worked here for two years and was hired straight out of university. I want to tell her that she should be focusing on work issues and not something as small as a birthday. If she had a complaint about a work issue it would be different. How do I frame my discussion with her without making her feel bad or like she is trouble? Her work is good and I am sure the complaint is just borne of inexperience and I don’t want to penalize her for it.

Alison: What?! She doesn’t only have a birthday every four years — she has one every year like everyone else. (Surely you don’t believe that she only advances in age every four years, right?) She might need to celebrate her birthday on February 28 or March 1 in non-leap years, but it’s not true that she doesn’t have a birthday and it’s absolutely unfair and wrong for your office to give her fewer days off than other people because of this. She should get the day off, she should get the gift card, and she should be acknowledged with the other birthdays at the same time.

It makes no sense to demoralize someone over something so easily fixed, and it’s very odd that you and your manager are digging in your heels on this. It’s not about her being inexperienced or petty, and it’s alarming that you and your manager think that! This is about you and your manager not looking logically at what you’re doing (and, frankly, being petty yourselves). You two are wrong, she is right, and you should remedy this and apologize to her for mishandling it.

And the update (originally here):

LW: I just wanted to give an update and to clarify a few things. I am the employee’s manager. For some reason some people in the comments thought I was a “coworker” or “team lead.”

One person guessed I was not American. I don’t know why they were jumped all over but they were correct. I am Canadian. I live and work outside of North America.

Some people mentioned Jehovah’s Witnesses and not being allowed to celebrate birthdays and the legality of this in the comments. This is not relevant to the situation with my employee. Also, it is considered a cult here and is banned. No one who works here is a Jehovah’s Witness.

People seemed to be unclear on the policy even though I stated it. Employees must take their birthday off. This is mandatory and not voluntary. They are paid and don’t have use their own time off. If their birthday falls on a weekend or holiday, they get the first working day off. There is no changing the date. They must take their actual birthday or the first working day back (in case of a weekend or holiday). People love the policy and no one complains about the mandatory day off or the gift card.

She had worked here for 2 years. She did get her birthday off in 2016 as it was a leap year. She did not get a day off in 2017 as it is not a leap year and didn’t get this year either. If she is still employed here in 2020 she will get a Monday off as the 29th of February is on a Saturday. This is in line with the policy. Some of the comments were confused about whether she ever had a birthday off.

The firm is not doing anything illegal by the laws here. She would have no legal case at all and if she quit she will not be able to get unemployment. She is not job hunting. She has known about the birthday policy since February of 2016 and has been bringing it up ever since. She has complained but has not looked for another job (the market is niche and specialized). Morale is high at the firm. Turnover among employees is low. Many people want to work here. Aside from this one issue she is a good worker and would be given an excellent reference if she decides to look elsewhere in the future.

Alison: Alison here. I don’t usually add anything of my own on to updates, but I want to state for the record that this is insane.



https://www.askamanager.org/2020/02/the-leap-day-employee-finally-gets-her-birthday-off-this-year.html

Comments

[beable]

I feel sorry for the Feb 29 birthday employee dealing with these asshats (and wish her luck finding amazing employment with less douche-canoe-ish people). Also I hope she has an awesome birthday this weekend.

But OMG WTF BBQ I am killing myself at the way the LW doubled down so spectacularly on their nutty policy.

I am ded from them trying to clarify - like the only reason the entire AAM readership and Alison werent on board with their asinine policy making sense was just because we clearly didn’t understand it.

[libbi]

So not knowing the industry, I can only speculate. But say you're an employee heading a project or working on a product and need to do a presentation/have a meeting with a client. And you can't schedule it on the day the client is available because it's your birthday, and it's mandatory you take off. So, you'll have to reschedule.

What an asinine policy to begin with. At least they're paid and it's not docked from their own time off, but still. And there's cake in the breakroom for someone who's not even there?? What even. The update is just as ridiculous.

[beable]

My best guess is that the birthdays are handled using poorly written software that doesnt handle leap years properly.

But even if thats the explanation it still isnt an excuse.

I am still boggled and laughing my ass off at the LW who SENT IN AN UPDATE trying to clarify why their ridikulous birthday policy makes sense if only AAM’s readership had understood them properly.

[cereta]

So, let me see if I have this straight: if your birthday falls on a Saturday, you get the nearest weekday off. But if your birthday falls on February 29, sucks to be you.

This is utterly bananas.

[beable]

And they wrote back because they are still convinced this makes sense!!

[redbird]

Part of what boggles me about this is that the letter was from the manager, not from the only person working there who isn't getting the paid day off or the once-a-year bonus added to their pay. Well, that and "this is such a minor issue that I'm going to write to an advice columnist for help in convincing my employee it's minor, rather than give way because it's not important enough to fight about."

I am very broadly dubious of anyone who says "this thing is no big deal, so why are you arguing instead of doing what I want?" (or "it's only $X, of course you can afford it," when they clearly think X is enough to argue over). This is an odd shape of a too-common pattern.

[lavendertook]

Tell the LW: Well then. Since you bring up the issue of legalities, if your company hired her straight out of university and you are adhering to your rules, then you have hired someone who is only 5 or 6 years old, and the company is in danger of being sued for breaking child labor laws--I'm sure Canada has them. Be grateful this employee has not brought charges yet, and to ensure this continues, I'd give her what she is asking for. Good luck and godspeed!

Maybe that wouldn't sow a moment of doubt in the LW, but their reply would be even yummier.

[cynthia1960]

*snort*

[teaotter]

Wow. They're basically giving every other employee a bonus of a gift card and an additional paid day off, and they think she's the unreasonable one for complaining about it.

[conuly]

Yup.

[minoanmiss]

Lawfulness is a hell of a drug to overdose on.

[jamoche]

You made me realize this is the perfect example of Lawful Evil

[cimorene]

IRL LOL.

[beable]

Malicious compliance.
EMphasis on the malicious

[cimorene]

Does anyone know where else Jehovah's Witnesses are officially classed as a cult, besides Russia? This really doesn't seem like a Russian letter. Maybe they just meant that everybody considers them a cult. I was wondering if there could conceivably be some kind of cultural issue that is predisposing LW and their superior to this insane blind spot.

[sporky_rat]

France for a while, and China now, I think. Singapore.

[ioplokon]

Yeah my first thought was France but I don't really see the birthday thing happening there? I guess it's probably weird everywhere but still...

[beable]

I'm Canadian and consider JW to be a cult although I haven't heard of it (or other cults) being banned before.

Also according to LW, nobody involved in LW's office is JW so I'm not even clear on why they brought it up

[cimorene]

Oh yes, I think a good case can be made that it is; but the letter sounded to me like they were saying it is officially considered a cult, not that they were expressing a personal opinion, and that made me wonder if there could be cultural circumstances outside the letter that would make their attitude less nonsensical. I believe the second letter was responding to points that were brought up in the comments to the original letter to Ask a Manager (ie JWs not celebrating holidays, presumably including birthdays).

[metawidget]

There's always Duplessis-era Québec and the padlock laws on the banning JWs front.