Your Guide to December Employee Celebrations
One of the best ways to avoid needless employment law disputes is to stay in touch with what your employees are thinking, feeling and doing. As part of our never-ending quest to keep you up-to-speed on the latest developments affecting your workplace, the following is our guide to some of the lesser-known holidays/celebrations your employees might be observing this month.
Just to make sure you’re paying attention, I included one made-up day on our list. The rest are very real. The first person to post a comment or send me an email at blawg@manpower.com identifying the bogus day will win a valuable prize.
- Day Without Art Day (1)
- National Dice Day (4)
- AFL-CIO Day (5)
- Bathtub Party Day (5)
- National Pawnbroker Day (6)
- Buy Something You Can’t Afford for Someone Who Doesn’t Need It Day (12)
- Cat Herders Day (15)
- Barbie and Barney Backlash Day (16)
- National Chocolate-covered Anything Day (16)
- Humbug Day (21)
- National Haiku Day (22)
- No “L” Day (25)
- National Whiner’s Day (26)
- National Chocolate Day (28)
What does this mean for employers? For decades, employment lawyers have advised their clients to avoid references to any specific celebrations at this time of year and to instead use the seemingly innocuous phrase “Happy Holidays.” But is that good advice?
In light of the above, by uttering ”Happy Holidays” you may be unwittingly sanctioning gambling, whining, cat herding, bathtub partying, pawnbroking, humbuggery, unions, haikus, chocolate over-indulgence, artlessness, discrimination against the letter “L” and violence against beloved children’s icons.
Our advice? Drop the word “Holidays” from any greeting and simply say: “Happy.”
Enjoy the month!
(Sources: holidaysmart.com, emotionscards.com, brownielocks.com)
December 1st, 2008 at 10:33 am
I’m going to guess No “L” Day.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I’m going to guess “Barbie and Barney Backlash Day”
December 1st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Nope — those are both very real (believe it or not).
December 1st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
How about “Buy something you can’t afford for someone who doesn’t need it day”?
December 1st, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Oh gosh, Kimberly, I was gonna say that, too.
I think I’ll now go with “Humbug Day.”
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:05 am
AFL-CIO day is my pick!
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:16 am
I’ll wait just a bit more before revealing the answer . . .
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
i’m going to go with Bathtub Party Day!
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
It is Buy something you can’t afford….day
December 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Forgive me (but don’t forget me that day if I am not correct)….
I think it is National Chocolate-covered Anything Day (16)
If I am right, we can at least look forward to the 28th!!!
December 5th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I’ll reveal the winner on Monday. As always, thanks for your participation!
December 8th, 2008 at 8:18 am
AND THE WINNER IS . . .
KIMBERLEY! The bogus employee celebration was indeed “Buy Something You Can’t Afford For Someone Who Doesn’t Need It Day.”
Congrats, Kimberley! We’ll send you a $25 gift certificate that can be used for any of the fine (and, hopefully, non-bankrupt) vendors on giftcertificates.com. My suggestion: spend it quickly!