Religious Holidays?

Open1

I wanted to run this by you all - I can't believe it's actually been about 10 years since I had any sort of issue regarding a religious holiday.

We have a new employee requesting 3 days off in October for religious holidays. Our policy only allows for 1 day PTO, and while we are OK granting the other 2 days off they will not be paid. Something in the back of my brain keeps telling me I'm forgetting something...

SMace

I don't think you are forgetting anything. You should allow the time off, but you do not have to pay. Am I missing anything?

crawfod

Pay-wise, FLSA only requires pay for hours worked. Paid leave benefits, such as PTO, vacation, sick, holiday, etc, are an agreement between ee and er. So you're okay there. (I'm assuming your firm doesn't regard these days as part of your normal paid holidays.)

Religious-wise, an employer's obligation is to "reasonably accommodate without undue hardship". Since it doesn't sound like you are objecting to this employee's request for time off, I think you're okay there also. But before you grant this employee the time off, I would recommend you be prepared for others to now come forward and request the same period off, perhaps now creating a workload problem. Then you'll have a brand new challenge.

Gillian3

You aren't missing anything, and if you get a bunch more requests, as suggested by Crawfod, then you have a conspiricy and you can deal with that. Chances are you won't.

Open1

Thanks for the reassurance. So far she's the only one requesting those particular days. I think I was a bit paranoid because she was rather hostile the way she informed her supervisor she definitely WAS taking those days off, but perhaps treated poorly by a previous employer. The supervisor is recently promoted, just said "I don't know. Go see HR." And she barged into my office when the door was closed and I was eating lunch. 8-| I don't think she'll do that again. x:o

System

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-03-05 AT 10:41AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Apologies if you already know this, but I'm guessing the employee is Jewish and was emphatic about taking the time off (rather than asking) because the October holidays are the high holidays, the most significant and sacred in Judaism. Rosh Hashana begins at sunset tonight (unlike regular American days, which begin at dawn, Jewish days begin at sunset). It lasts for two days by custom, until sunset on Wednesday. The holiest day, Yom Kippur, begins next Wednesday evening and ends Thursday at sunset. If you're Jewish and attend no other synagogue services all year, you will attend these because of their importance. One more note - the dates for these holidays vary (like Easter varies each year), because they're set with reference to the Jewish calendar, which is a lunar calendar. If you'd like more information on Jewish holidays, check out the Judaism 101 website, [url]http://www.jewfaq.org/toc.htm[/url].
One more thing -- the above site includes a page on Jewish holidays for gentiles, [url]http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayg.htm[/url], which is pretty good. (and that's what the editing was about, to add this!) Happy new year!

Open1

Thank you, Kathy, that's a very good website!

I received another email from another employee telling me in no uncertain terms he was taking "Rosh Hashonah" off, and copying his supervisor. Again, it was rather abrupt, plus he should have addressed it to his supervisor and copied me. ?? We have NO problem granting these requests - this is one of the most accommodating workplaces I have ever seen, so I'm still a tad confused why these employees border on rude with their requests. All I can guess is they've had bad experiences with former employers.

ritamcguire

Kathy C:

Excellent website. Thanks.