I work for a local retail business in a small town where I live. Under normal circumstances we normally have a team of 5 staff members, sometimes even 6 on certain days.
Yesterday (Sunday) I was notified by a co-worker that 3 staff members have tested positive, which includes my boss. Another employee is on annual leave, this means 4 staff are out of action, leaving myself and one other worker left. Essentially, we'd be running the store. Taking deliveries, phone calls, helping customers. Everything.
I called my boss after I was told the above, to see if he knew of the situation. He did. After he explained how tomorrow (today's work day) would play out, I straight up asked him what the pay rate was. I can't remember his exact response, but he did sound surprised. I said that I think it's unfair for us 2 workers to do the work of essentially 5 or 6 people. He begrudgingly agreed to a higher pay. I asked him can we agree on an amount right now on the phone, to which he said no, claiming he was in the middle of sleeping.
Honestly, I just want to get some opinions here. Surely I'm not alone in thinking it's reasonable to be paid more? I was thinking time and a half (50% more) at minimum. My co-worker (the other guy available) was in agreeance with me, so if we refused to work the store would literally be completely closed for 2 days. I just think it makes sense to pay use a bit more in order to keep us happy, that way the store would actually open.