Labor Day: Who’s working?

For most, Labor Day is a day off from work and a last chance to have some fun in the sun– but for some, it’s still just another day at work.

A survey by Bloomberg BNA said about two in five employers are requiring their workers to clock in on the holiday, which translates to about 41 percent.

This year, you can find Dr. David Downey on the labor and delivery of Portneuf Medical Center. In his three years at the hospital, he’s grown used to treating Labor Day as any other Monday.

“For the patients that are here, it’s not a holiday for them,” Downey said. “Whether they’re sick or welcoming a new little one to this world, they need someone here. So whether it’s myself or the nurses, we like taking care of them.”

The same goes for master patrolman Clint Goss, who’s been with the Pocatello Police Department for nearly 30 years. He said working holidays comes with the job.

“As a police officer, you just have to get used to it. For us, there really are no holidays. We’re open 24/7, 365 days a year,” he said.

Over at the restaurant Butterburr’s, Dan Cuoio is working his first Labor Day as a host. However, this isn’t his first holiday delivering coffee and soda to customers.

“You’re just kind of used to it once you work here long enough,” Cuoio said. “It doesn’t necessarily take a special breed of person by any means, but you just have to be mentally prepared for something like that.”

He has a philosophy for working holidays.

“Somebody’s just gotta suck it up and do it because that’s just the way it’s gotta be, otherwise nothing’s going to go how it needs to be,” he said.

It’s kind of how Downey views it, but there’s also something more.

“I love what I do and it’s an honor to take care of people regardless of what day it is,” Downey said.

Other kinds of jobs that clocked in today are in retail, IT specialists and those in entertainment and media.

The Bloomberg BNA also says larger companies are more likely to schedule holiday duty.