Do retail workers who work the midnight shift Black Friday get paid extra?

Probably not, unless you have the protection of a union.

I worked quite a few years at Target on the overnight shift. During that time I worked (at one point or another) on both Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. I never received any extra compensation for working either of those days, and I highly doubt that’s changed or other retailers pay their employees any differently.

You guys should have had a union.

If you are a fulltime employee working a 40 hour week during seven days, overtime is compensated at time and a half.

My friend got hired just for the holiday season, Black Friday included. She’s getting paid the same the whole time.

I thought there were federal and state laws that say time over 40 hours per week must be paid overtime. If you work under that you are part time and not entitled to overtime. Has that changed since I left? That is why unskilled labor is usually hired part time, employers do not want to pay time and a half for a job that anyone is capable of doing. Another reason to acquire a trade, then you are valuable and necessary and worth your paycheck whether you belong to a union or not.

@Stinley According to a Wikipedia article.(shopping)
The day’s name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.[4] Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that “Black Friday” indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are “in the black”.[5] Interesting…I didn’t know this.

@john65pennington Overtime depends upon the state. Yes, here in Tennessee, it is paid if a non-exempt (hourly paid) employee works over 40 hours a week. In California, it is paid for anything over eight hours in a day. In all cases, I believe, exempt (management level) employees can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and don’t earn overtime pay.

@rooeytoo Work hours are mandated by the state, not federal government. I could be wrong on this, but the general rule is anything under X hours a week (24 maybe?) is considered part-time. In this case, they do not qualify for benefits, like health insurance, bonus, etc. It’s a general rule, and it varies by company. As long as the company offers the minimum required by state (or federal if it supercedes), then it is legal.

@jca The only reason an employee would earn overtime pay is if they worked more than the state mandated laws if they were a non-exempt employee. Creative scheduling and hiring part time help is often the solution to avoiding the high expense of overtime pay.

Just going by the answers here, do I understand correctly that casual employees in the US aren’t paid extra for working on public holidays? (Wikipedia says Black Friday isn’t a holiday, but @amujinx mentioned Christmas Day as well.)

@iphigeneia Good point. It varies by company policies. For example, some companies, like government agencies, give the employees Christmas day off with holiday pay. Others that do not close (like hotels) may pay the regular salary, time and a half, or double time. It is up to each company to set their holiday pay policy and communicate it during the hiring process..

I’m getting time and a half for my 2am-12pm shift. Booyaaaahhhhh

It depends on the state salary laws. For part-timers if they work more than 8 hours in one 24 hour period, or more than 40 hours in a week, they get paid overtime.

@iphigeneia Black Friday is not a holiday, that is correct, it is a term used originally by retailers, as described in an answer above, that has caught on in the general publics vocabulary. Many people use the term and have no idea its origins, but know it is the day after Thanksgiving and a big shopping day.

@john65pennington I am pretty sure every state requires time and a half for any hours over 40 hours worked in a 7 day period, you don’t need a union for that. Some states and unions entitle workers to overtime for anything past 8 hours a day. Maybe some also get extra money for working a graveyard shift, but I have never heard of it. If that type of rule does exist it probably is more likely to be company policy or a union deal.

@redfeather Consider yourself lucky! As far as I am aware, I don’t get paid any more than my regular hourly rate for my 11 PM (yes, that is tonight, Thanksgiving night) to 11 AM shift.

Also, retail stores, or at least the company that I work for, actually discourages joining a union, so I’m not sure that being a union member would really be beneficial in many retail situations.

And, let’s not forget most retail managers are salaried, they don’t get over time.

My close Aunt worked this morning and from what she told me, she is working all day.. she said that they do not get payed any extra wages.. but different stores have different standards.

I almost died today.

@fly Companies never encourage unions, they dread them. Unions come about when the employees are fed up with being treated poorly, and the union gets voted in. Unions approach employees, they seek out companies where they think they have a chance, and try to pursuade employees to unionize. The Union is like a company itself, collecting dues, and paying their own employees to represent the workers. Generally I am anti-union, but sometimes there is no other way to really push back on the employer when they have an incredibly unfair amount of power over its employees, especially prevalent during bad economic times and high unemployment. Personally, I rather see employees take a stand on their own if they can get it done that way, before formally unionizing.

How did it go? How was the all nighter?

Sorry @JLeslie, I haven’t been on in a while because I’ve actually been really sick, but let’s put it this way: I had lost my voice by 2:00 AM, and the breakfast food that had been provided consisted of doughnuts, cookies, and Poptarts- not exactly the breakfast of champions. In short, I never, ever want to work on Black Friday again.

@Fly I used to get sick when I would push myself too hard at work also. Sorry you went through that sucky day, and now dealing with being sick for days. :( this is why I hated being pushed to my limit, or pushing my employees to theirs, because then for days I either had employees out sick, or working on half functioning energy levels.

I don’t think you have to swear of Black Friday forever, but swearing off a night shift sounds good to me (if you usually work during the daytime, some people regularly work nightshift obviously). If you work in retail next year just let your boss know up front the hours you refuse to work.

The positive is you demonstrated an incredible work ethic, feeling an obligation to do what is expected of you. The difficult thing, and it continues through adulthood, is finding the balance of giving your time and a large part of your life to your job, and figuring out when it crosses a line, how much is too much? I guess you have learned one of your lines.