You are the manager of a chain of print shops and have just received some good news from your corporate office. Next Friday is Independence Day, and all of your 45 employees will be given a paid vacation day. There’s a problem, though. One of your biggest clients has asked for a rush-order that relates to their summer marketing campaign, and you need to produce 5,000 postcards, 80 large posters, and several banners by July 7. To complete the job, at least seven of your staff members are going to have to work during the holiday, including one of your four graphic designers.

You would like to ask for volunteers, but you need seven employees. So, if fewer than seven volunteer, you will assign employees based on seniority—those hired most recently will be asked to work.

Employees who work during the holiday will have two options: they can be paid overtime at the time-and-a-half rate, or they can receive two vacation days.

Write an email to your employees and ask them to volunteer to work. Indicate what will happen if you don’t get enough volunteers.