Religious Respect in The Workplace Takes a New Turn

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LOUISVILLE, USA, November 18, 2002: Few U.S. employers list the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur as employee holidays. The same goes for Ramadan, Deepavali or the thousands of other holy days celebrated by other religions. As the workplace has become more diverse, firms have tried to devise ways for their Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Muslim, Jewish or Baha’i employees to take time off to observe their holidays. Most companies, especially large ones, offer what is known as “PTO” days — personal time off — that can be used by employees for any reason. This time typically amounts to two to four days per year, and can be used to observe holidays such as Yom Kippur or Deepavali. Pleasanton, California, headquarters of Safeway Inc., a large grocery retailer, distributes “diversity calendars.” Each year Safeway passes out calendars that include up to two dozen well-known, as well as more obscure, religious observances each month. In the highly diverse high-tech industry, being respectful of all religious traditions is vital and in that spirit, the Pleasanton-based software firm, Documentum Inc., gives its nearly 1,000 employees worldwide two “floating holidays” yearly — and they are very popular. “We have many Hindu and Muslim employees, and they definitely make use of these days for religious observances.”