The holiday season

Q: With the fall season approaching, I am trying to figure out how to handle the fall and winter holidays.  I am a manager and have lots of employees from lots of different backgrounds.  Some may celebrate holidays which are less well-known.  My employees include young, older, brown, white, protestant, and Hindu.  Some might be from backgrounds which I am less familiar with.  I don’t want to disregard holidays which might be not be on our company’s holiday calendar which are not well known.  How do employers manage all of this?  I want to be fair, but also, we can’t have everyone taking time off at the same time.  I have no idea what we should be celebrating and what we shouldn’t.  No one at my company seems to know either.

A: You will do well as a supervisor.  You are already showing signs that you want to create an environment where everyone feels welcome and part of the team.  A good sign!

I would not necessarily ask everyone to disclose their religious beliefs because some may find that intrusive.  However, I would ask everyone about their time off requests from now until year-end. You can also explain that you encourage anyone on your team to request time off for a range of holidays, vacations, or other time off needs.  Mention that you will consider all time off needs, but you need to weigh business considerations as well.  Sometimes there may be multiple employees who want the day after Thanksgiving off, or time off during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  There may be others who want to celebrate Diwali or Rosh Hashana.  Additionally, there may be others who have vacation plans in October, or are attending a wedding in late September. 

Once you receive your team’s requests, I would suggest that you establish some system for where time off requests are approved.  Most employers try to accommodate and balance time off requests.  Length of service is often used to determine whose time off requests are approved.  I would also advise that you do your very best to approve any religious holiday requests, as those are often the most important to people.  Some companies offer floating holidays with the goal of allowing employees to use these days for holidays which may not be reflected on our more traditional calendars.  Because some holidays are not on our traditional calendars does not mean that these holiday are any less important that the ones that you and I may celebrate.    

Good luck in your new role!