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Jewish Holidays

Bridget1Bridget1 27 Posts
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I am wondering how other companies handle the Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Do you give employees paid leave? Unpaid leave? Liberal use of vacation leave? We would like to give Jewish employees paid time off for each of these holidays, but are unsure what the repercussions might be (if any) for non-Jewish employees wanting days off too, other religious holidays, etc.? Anyone who has addressed this issue?

 Thanks!

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  • 6 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • SFbaySFbay 156 Posts
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    We have two floating holidays that employees can use at any time. I have heard of some employers using all floating holidays but we continue to use both designated holidays and floating holidays. It seems to work well.
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  • NYGiantsNYGiants 93 Posts
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    It may be a regional thing, but we close for the 2 days of Rosh Hashanah (this year) and if Yom Kippur falls during the week, for the first day/night. We pay all employees. There are plenty of non-Jewish employees who benefit and do not celebrate, but every year it seems to open a dialogue amongst employees about what each holiday means, and promotes a better understanding of religious differences/practices.
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  • RuthGRuthG 117 Posts
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    We don't use floating holidays at our company, so employees may use thier PTO to take those days off.
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  • Mikey1Mikey1 28 Posts
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    Our company doesn't have any appointed holidays, we use all floating holidays. So if an employee wants to take specific days off, he or she just uses their floating holidays.
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  • IrisDIrisD 97 Posts
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    We are a very small company.  We have "floating" religious holidays; employees can choose Good Friday or one of the Jewish holidays; they can take more time as vacation.  So far, we haven't had a request for a holiday of another religion, but we would give the employee the day he or she selects as the floater.
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  • tamicasearstamicasears 2 Posts
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    My company is working with this issue right now actually.  We give one "floating" holiday and any other time off has to be covered with PTO.  I'd be vary of giving off those particular religious holidays because you may have someone who wants time off for their religion as well and may scream discrimination.  You can't really go wrong with taking federal holidays and granting unpaid time off for other days or letting people use their vacation or PTO time for anything other than that.
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