HRBlunders.com » Santa

‘Are you fat and jolly? You’re hired, for one month’

Fred Hosier — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:10:18 +0000

Employment agencies in Germany are looking for seasonal workers who are cheerful, chubby men. Natural white beard a plus. Employer will provide red suit.

Yes, Deutschland needs Santas.

Germany is running out of qualified Santas, also referred to as Christ Kindl there, and needs to recruit and train them fast.

Employment agencies report an acute Santa shortage as Germans look to block out bad economic news by taking comfort in holiday traditions.

Besides being child-friendly, all applicants to play Father Christmas need to have clean criminal records.

After Santas are hired, there are rules they have to follow.

One of them is: Never drive up to your store location. Every child knows Santa travels by sleigh. So store Santas are advised to park a few blocks away and walk to the store.

The pay isn’t bad – up to $75 per hour.

Think layoffs are tough? Try firing Santa

Fred Hosier — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:00:22 +0000

Most HR pros have handled difficult layoffs or firings — but have you ever had to fire Santa?

A mall in McLean, VA, did just that. But don’t worry: They hired him back.

Michael Graham had been Santa Claus at the Tysons Corner Center for 18 years.

Recently he received word from the mall that he wouldn’t be asked back this year.

The mall said it canceled its contract with Graham because it decided to work with a new photography company that wanted a different St. Nick.

Graham made $175 as Santa, about 10 times the going rate. However, the photography company said money wasn’t the issue.

It was too late for Graham to find another gig for this year, so he did what any good Santa would do: He sued.

Graham wanted to be reinstated and a down payment that was due Oct. 1.

When the public heard about Graham’s firing, they let their displeasure be known.

Graham’s return may have something to do with the public outcry about his firing. News of the dispute sparked hundreds of calls, an online petition and threats to boycott the mall.

The mall didn’t want to be Scrooge this holiday season. “We are both committed to providing our very special community a most memorable holiday season,” mall spokeswoman Allison Fischer was quoted in a wire service article.

Convention for a very specialized job: Santa Claus

Fred Hosier — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:00:46 +0000

Perhaps you attend some Human Resources conferences each year, or your company encourages employees to attend other meetings for professionals. Well, here’s an annual gathering for a very specialized — and special — job.

Nearly 140 people attended the annual World Santa Claus Congress at a park north of Copenhagen. Most attendees were from Scandinavia, but they came from all over the world including Russia, Japan and the United States.

These jobs aren’t for couch potatoes. One of the activities was an obstacle course where the Kris Kringles had to race past a sleigh and up a small hill built of ice before climbing down a fake chimney, according to wire service reports.

They also participated in the somewhat less strenuous “yula-hoop” twirl.

Attendees could also participate in tongue-in-cheek seminars about the 21st century challenges facing their vocation, such as, “How do we get into people’s homes when there are no chmineys on the houses to climb down?”

The Santa Congress has grown from just a local event when it was first held in 1957.