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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, September 19, 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, the most religiously significant time of year for the world’s 1 billion Muslims. But as the workplace has become more racially, ethnically and religiously diverse, firms have tried to devise ways for their Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto Muslim, Jewish or Baha’i employees — indeed, all non-Christians — to take time off to observe their holidays. “Most organizations today have become pretty good about handling non-Christian holidays, and certainly Jewish holidays are not a new issue in the American workplace,” said Julie O’Mara, principal of O’Mara & Associates in Castro Valley, which works with major employers on issues of diversity. Most companies, especially large ones, offer what she refers to as “PTO” days — personal time off — that can be used by employees for any reason. Typically two to four days a year, the time off could be used, for instance, to observe Yom Kippur. “We still live in a Christian-dominated culture at the same time our workplaces have become increasingly diverse,” O’Mara said. “Sometimes, non-Christian holidays or observances are just not on the radar of a company’s human resources department or senior management.” That’s why she is a big fan of “diversity calendars” distributed by some employers to either managers or their entire work force. Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. is one of those companies. Each year, Safeway passes out calendars that include up to two dozen well-known, as well as more obscure, religious observances each month. In highly diverse high-tech, being respectful of all religious traditions is vital, said Joe Gabbert, executive vice president of worldwide human resources for Documentum Inc. The Pleasanton-based software firm 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,” he said.

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