How to handle holidays for religious employees

'There has to be some equity across the organization so people don’t feel that they’re being treated differently'

How to handle holidays for religious employees

With winter holidays just around the corner, many employers may be faced with employee requests around taking time off for holidays that are not necessarily Judeo-Christian-based.

And when thinking about how to make things fair for those workers, there is one overriding principle that should be kept at top of mind, according to a workplace expert.

“It’s equity --- not that you have to be the same to everybody but there has to be some equity across the organization so people don’t feel that they’re being treated differently,” says Shai Dubey, adjunct assistant professor and distinguished faculty fellow of business law at the Smith School of Business in Kingston Ont.

“[For] many people, religion is a very important part of defining who they are and so when their beliefs are not respected, it really is they’re not respected.”

With many newcomers regularly coming to Canada, this crucial aspect of their identities must be respected in organizations, says Dubey.

“As more and more immigrants are coming to the country, religion is actually a much stronger piece and research is showing that of those coming to the country, it’s something that they hang on to; it’s part of their culture that they bring and so when you come to a brand new country, you may not fit into the religious majority that happens to be here.”

It’s a good idea to be aware of the diversity of the workforce in communications and activity planning, says another expert.

HR’s ‘balancing act’

When employees ask for alternate days off, it can be a balancing act for HR, and employees should be made aware that they have “a duty to engage with the employer to find solutions,” says Dubey.

And while employers have a duty to accommodate workers based on religion, that duty is not absolute.

“What courts have said is you have a duty to accommodate until it’s unduly harsh, meaning… if your operations are going to suffer, you can’t get people to backfill, etc., etc., then that duty disappears,” he says.


Shai Dubey

But for those employers who successfully accommodate workers and their time-off requests, this could become a competitive advantage, especially in the tight labour market. 

“Your best source of referral for an employee is another employee. It’s like a warm lead in sales compared to ‘We’ve got 1,000 resumes that are coming.’ Why would people apply? They’ll apply here because they see your place of work as being a place that includes them and they feel welcome,” says Dubey.

Floating days one option

For some employers, adding extra days off to the yearly package can go a long way toward managing these accommodations, he says.

“Some organizations have floating days off that people can use in whatever capacity that they want to like family days, health days. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all that I’ve seen [but] I’ve seen organizations find what works.”

Canadian HR Reporter recently spoke with a B.C. non-profit organization about how it reworked its holiday policies for greater diversity.

Creating well-understood policies and fostering an open environment are also key to making it work, according to Dubey. That opens up the lines of communication and removes potential concerns by employees about asking for accommodations.

“It’s a matter of having a policy, being able to apply that policy and [doing] it in such a way that people feel that they’re not being judged in a different way,” he says.

While surveys can unveil employee preferences, oftentimes, the best information sometimes comes from talking, says Dubey.

“We need to find out from our employees: What are the important things that are out there? How can we form policies that are going to be equitable, and are going to respect the individual?”

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