In the United States, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and with this national holiday comes the question of how will companies keep their employees happy through this date. For many companies the answer is easy, give them the day off, but for other companies, such as major retailer or grocery stores, this is a harder question. It’s a tradition for families to do their shopping for Christmas presents during Thanksgiving, since everyone is together and the stores all have blowout sales, so many retailers decide to stay open for Thanksgiving.

One example is Walmart, who attempts to keep employees happy while the rest of the country has a day off by offering three different incentives to work on Thanksgiving, an extra day’s pay, 25 percent off their next Walmart purchase and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at work. Walmart is trying to use extrinsic motivators to get their employees to stay satisfied.

Another major retailer, Costco, has a different strategy, take the day off. Costco is breaking the mold of retailers by giving their employees the holiday to spend with their loved ones.

Differences like this reflect the public’s opinion of these companies, where Costco is known for taking good care of their employees and Walmart is thought of as treating theirs more poorly.