To meet the needs of all employees, experts suggest, holiday policies should be fair and flexible. “We sure could use some more leniency in their work schedule,” she told SHRM Online.īut Carlisle said that her husband, who works for an electrical controls company in the South, “feels uncomfortable asking for time off for anything, especially religious observances, because of the peer pressure to put in as many hours as everyone else.” Melissa Carlisle said that her husband’s employer demands that he work overtime regularly, including weekends and the entire weekend of Good Friday through Easter. “We generally require a minimum of 10 days per year to use for our holidays,” she explained.īut it’s not just Muslims, Jews and Hindus who seek flexible holiday policies. “Observant Jews need a significant amount of time for holidays and the Sabbath,” said Judy Schaffer, an Orthodox Jew and regional manager who has had varied experiences with employers. While such a request might seem extreme to some, it might be legitimate. Similarly, attempts to accommodate one holiday in the workplace can lead to many more requests, as evidenced by another SHRM member who noted in an HR Talk posting that a “new employee turned in a list (eleven items) of religious observances she would like to take off during the year.” It took just a few months for representatives of the Hindu community to suggest that the school district add Diwali, the holiest of Hindu holidays, to the list, according to news reports. Case in point: In March 2010, the Burlington (Vt.) School Board in Burlington voted to add a Muslim holiday and a Jewish holy day to its school calendar in an effort to maximize student attendance.
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Provides guidanceon how to avoid religious discrimination and how to accommodate employee beliefs in the workplace.Ĭreating a holiday schedule that is inclusive of multiple beliefs can be tricky. In the U.S., for example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
So what should an employer do when an employee’s religious holidays are missing from a company’s list of planned closures? Employers must follow the laws and regulations of the locations in which they operate. UPS’ holiday schedule, with a dropdown menu by country, illustrates how one company has adapted to local practices in various regions around the world. The same dilemma can occur in Europe, where, customarily, several Christian holidays are celebrated, as well as in other locales. employer that bases its holiday schedule on government-designated holidays is likely to face a similar quandary if it employs practicing Jews, Muslims or others who seek time off for religious holidays other than those celebrated by Christians. “How do you handle employees who celebrate holidays other than Christian holidays?” a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) member asked in the HR Talk onlinenetworking forum of the SHRM website.
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