What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? NY
I work at a religious non-profit organization. I am a housekeeper there. We enable different groups to have their retreats at our facility, they stay over and sometimes hold conventions. Mostly all of the people who work at my job are Buddhists, so they like the idea of having "retreats" and have decided that there should be a staff retreat for the employees. I like the idea of this, but i am troubled because they have made it to be mandatory.
The retreat is taking place at the institution where i work. They believe that the point of the retreat is to promote togetherness amongst colleagues and also to learn meditation and self awareness. I do not believe that they are forcing their religion. . . they are forcing participation.
My normal hours at work are 9-5pm, sometimes 12-8pm and sometimes 7-3pm. The retreat is set to last from morning to night on one day, and then we are supposed to stay over and start the second day of the retreat the next day. They are not paying us any additional money to stay over, nor are they offering time and a half, etc. . It is just mandatory attendance regardless.
In detail the day goes as follows, we trade off job positions with others, have breakfast, meditate, have discussions about self awareness, are forced to interact with our co-workers in conversation, have lunch and dinner then watch a movie about the environment. We then have to sleep there and do the same routine the next day.
This doesn't sound bad and my problem exists mainly because i do not feel that i should be forced to participate. I am not being paid extra for spending the night and even if i was, it's a matter of principle. I think this is a good idea and a good thing to offer but i do not feel they have any right to make it mandatory.
Now here is where it gets even more complicated. I made an attempt to get out of this by requesting time from my personal days and vacation time. It was a bad idea but out of my desperation to get out of the event i lied to my immediate boss. I honestly do feel bad about lying, but i felt i had to at the time.
I told my immediate boss that my grandparents were coming into town from Florida and that i hadnt seen then in years. I thought this might give me an excuse not to go. They do live in Florida and i have not seen them in years thats the truth, but they are not coming to visit me on the days of the staff retreat. i lied and said that they had already bought their tickets in advance before i even knew the dates of the retreat. In truth, i found out the dates and made up the excuse.
My immediate boss said that he understood that i should see my grandparents and he emailed the top boss (his boss) to ask if i could have the time off. The big boss declined and said that i must be present. I cannot understand this because this is not training for my job (as a housekeeper) and it serves no purpose but to socialize and learn meditation and self awareness.
I realize that i lied about "why" i could not make it. I should have been honest and admitted that i did not feel comfortable. Sadly its too late to take back the lie about my visiting family. My immediate boss has been very helpful in trying to get me thr time off but the main boss is not accepting this. My immediate boss feels that the big boss might fire me if i do not show up (even though i offered to take it as personal time). I do my job well and have a good record with them. . . his main reason for firing me would be because of my absence from the retreat.
I should add that this retreat is set to take place on the 20 and 21 of this month. The second day falls on good friday (and it is mandatory attendance). It falls on the few days before Easter. I am concerned that i may be fired if i do not attend. I desperately need some advice on this. Can i be legally fired ? If i am fired can i sue for wrongful termination?
Do they have a right to make this mandatory with no extra pay, when its primary reason is for meditation and socialization ? Can they do this on a holiday ?(good friday). I lied about my reasons for not wanting to go on the retreat, does this affect my case if i do have a case and if i am fired? Thank you so much for your advice, i appreciate it.
I work at a religious non-profit organization. I am a housekeeper there. We enable different groups to have their retreats at our facility, they stay over and sometimes hold conventions. Mostly all of the people who work at my job are Buddhists, so they like the idea of having "retreats" and have decided that there should be a staff retreat for the employees. I like the idea of this, but i am troubled because they have made it to be mandatory.
The retreat is taking place at the institution where i work. They believe that the point of the retreat is to promote togetherness amongst colleagues and also to learn meditation and self awareness. I do not believe that they are forcing their religion. . . they are forcing participation.
My normal hours at work are 9-5pm, sometimes 12-8pm and sometimes 7-3pm. The retreat is set to last from morning to night on one day, and then we are supposed to stay over and start the second day of the retreat the next day. They are not paying us any additional money to stay over, nor are they offering time and a half, etc. . It is just mandatory attendance regardless.
In detail the day goes as follows, we trade off job positions with others, have breakfast, meditate, have discussions about self awareness, are forced to interact with our co-workers in conversation, have lunch and dinner then watch a movie about the environment. We then have to sleep there and do the same routine the next day.
This doesn't sound bad and my problem exists mainly because i do not feel that i should be forced to participate. I am not being paid extra for spending the night and even if i was, it's a matter of principle. I think this is a good idea and a good thing to offer but i do not feel they have any right to make it mandatory.
Now here is where it gets even more complicated. I made an attempt to get out of this by requesting time from my personal days and vacation time. It was a bad idea but out of my desperation to get out of the event i lied to my immediate boss. I honestly do feel bad about lying, but i felt i had to at the time.
I told my immediate boss that my grandparents were coming into town from Florida and that i hadnt seen then in years. I thought this might give me an excuse not to go. They do live in Florida and i have not seen them in years thats the truth, but they are not coming to visit me on the days of the staff retreat. i lied and said that they had already bought their tickets in advance before i even knew the dates of the retreat. In truth, i found out the dates and made up the excuse.
My immediate boss said that he understood that i should see my grandparents and he emailed the top boss (his boss) to ask if i could have the time off. The big boss declined and said that i must be present. I cannot understand this because this is not training for my job (as a housekeeper) and it serves no purpose but to socialize and learn meditation and self awareness.
I realize that i lied about "why" i could not make it. I should have been honest and admitted that i did not feel comfortable. Sadly its too late to take back the lie about my visiting family. My immediate boss has been very helpful in trying to get me thr time off but the main boss is not accepting this. My immediate boss feels that the big boss might fire me if i do not show up (even though i offered to take it as personal time). I do my job well and have a good record with them. . . his main reason for firing me would be because of my absence from the retreat.
I should add that this retreat is set to take place on the 20 and 21 of this month. The second day falls on good friday (and it is mandatory attendance). It falls on the few days before Easter. I am concerned that i may be fired if i do not attend. I desperately need some advice on this. Can i be legally fired ? If i am fired can i sue for wrongful termination?
Do they have a right to make this mandatory with no extra pay, when its primary reason is for meditation and socialization ? Can they do this on a holiday ?(good friday). I lied about my reasons for not wanting to go on the retreat, does this affect my case if i do have a case and if i am fired? Thank you so much for your advice, i appreciate it.
