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November 27, 2007
LAist Asks: Is this the Worst Job in LA?
Although most of us here at LAist are gourmet vegan chefs, a few of us (hi!) get our meals via drive-thru's not just daily, but several times a day.
So the day after Thanksgiving we found ourselves in the drive-thru of the Jack in the Box on Santa Monica Blvd. in Westwood right near the 405 and we saw this interesting sign.
Because we're selfish, lazy, bastards, at first we thought "oh cool, Jack in the Crack will be there for us day and night no matter what."
But then we thought, "whoah there Jack, what about the poor suckers who actually have to spend Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day shelling out deep fried tacos, Chipotle Chicken Ciabatta sandwiches, and curly fries?"
But then we thought - "hey some people - especially starving students, might like the extra hours to pull in that time-in-a-half and double time, so they can buy weed books for school."
At this point we don't know how to feel about this. Yes it's great for the consumer. But is it good for the employee? Please let us know, is Jack in the Box and their holiday hours a terrible thing (because someone has to work those hours), or is it a good thing (because there are many hours to work in a short period of time).
Tell us, edjumacate us, feed our minds.
And pass the cheese sticks.
photo by Sonny I. LaVista for LAist
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it's my experience that they'll usually ask for volunteers first, and then make people work if they don't get enough. i think it's great for people who want to volunteer...maybe they don't have big families or don't like the holidays, but could sure use the extra money.
i know, for example, when i worked at starbucks, i took a holiday shift. i wanted the extra cash, and because i volunteered i was able to pick a shift that worked well with my schedule, so i could still fit in family time.
i think the extra money is really important to a lot of people, especially for those working at jack, who normally make only minimum wage or around that. and with jack being open all the time, there's plenty of shifts for people to choose from that won't prevent them from enjoying the holidays.
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How about closing shop on thanksgiving/xmas/etc and giving workers a paid holiday? What a concept! Nah, that'll never work.
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I can tell you I've been on the receiving end of a Christmas Jack in the Box dinner.... and very thankful for it.
After spending an entire Christmas with my family distributing gifts to children and hot meals to families in Riverside through Project Food, we headed home only to realize we had nothing to eat ourselves! The only thing in our fridge was a defrosting turkey planned for a Christmas dinner we were going to make the next night.
Having something hot and greasy to eat after long hours of standing and serving was heavenly. Another comforting fact.... we were not alone, there were 2 other families having late night Jack attacks.
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When I worked in a record/video rental store, they had 3-hour shifts on Xmas, so people with kids could still get up and do the Xmas morning thing and people like me who just had to make it to mom's by 2pm could do an early morning shift.
And I have to say, non-Christian employees of various faiths have always stepped up and volunteered at most of the places I've worked. In return, I have always made it a point to schedule myself for Passsover, the first and last days of Hannukah, etc.
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It all depends on why the workers are taking those shifts.
If the workers feel that they must work on a day that they consider a holiday in order to get by, then it's a travesty. Although it isn't really the fault of the fast food industry as much as a function of inflation increasing more rapidly than the minimum wage.
On the other hand, if these shifts are being filled by college kids looking to bump up their hours to buy a sack (as could well be the case in Westwood!), then keep those fryers going!
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JitB was one of my first employers...so will always have a fond place in my gizzard for them. Like most wage-paying corps, they pay time x 1.5 for holiday shifts. Course, when I worked for them, "open 24 hours/day" didn't exist.
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I've heard from plenty of people that they have the choice to work holidays...even they request to work on the holidays for the time and a half or double time (extra tips too). On the flip side, most customer service employees can request time off long before the schedules are made. I know Starbucks is very accommodating in this arena.
Closing a place like Jack in the Crack and paying employees for a holiday will never happen...but, doesn't California law require at least two paid personal days per year, as well as earned paid vacation time?
I'll even take one from all the immigration reform folks -- isn't Jack in the Box, at least in SoCal, employed mostly with hard working folks who "do the jobs that no Americans want to do?"
And Kudos to Elise Thompson who commented above -- not just Christians work in customer service. Isn't that one of the reasons why the phrases "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" have pushed Merry Christmas to the back burner?