Legally, high school students under the age of 18 are permitted to only work 20 hours a week; however, when the annual Black Friday sales roll around, those rules may not always apply.

For senior Mark Gewargis, who works at Best Buy, Black Friday meant working half of his work week hours in the two days between Thanksgiving and Black Friday this year.

“Of course I am upset [missing Thanksgiving] but in the end, it is just the nature of retail. It is obvious [that Black Friday] is working for the business since customers are still coming in,” Gewargis said. “My parents were more upset the first year [I missed Thanksgiving], but now it is just something that we were expecting.”

Best Buy, which Gewargis says is notorious for having long lines and campers awaiting midnight opening for the Black Friday deals, expects employees to be ready earlier too. Due to Black Friday deals starting earlier, Gewargis has missed Thanksgiving for three years straight.

“If I had a choice, I would not be working on a holiday, but I know there are some retail employees who are living from paycheck to paycheck that need each day of work that they can get. This [type of] bonus holiday pay can help [these employees] out on any month,” Gewargis said.

During the holiday season, Best Buy stays open about one to two hours later than normal, impacting employee’s work schedule. But those aren’t the only hours changing for the shopping season. Traditionally, when Black Friday deals began at midnight, employees were required to arrive at work late on Thanksgiving, but with stores opening on Thanksgiving itself, now some employees have to rearrange family celebrations or miss them all together.

Gewargis says he understands the competitive nature of the retail industry, but he questions whether the bottom line is worth the sacrifice.

“[These hours] are just the nature of the business; it is just something to expect in retail now in most stores.However, I don’t think businesses should be allowed to open on holidays like Thanksgiving,” Gewargis said. “Certain states did not allow retail stores to open on Thanksgiving; they had to open at midnight like before. To stop the 6pm openings, the state needs to step in to stop retail stores. Otherwise, they will continue the competition between stores about who will open first.”