Christian & Jewish Holidays Question

teecee · February 2003

We have a staff member (VP) who takes off, with pay, all Jewish holidays. We now have a Christian secretary who wants Good Friday off with pay. None of these holidays are listed on our list of company holidays. Do we have to give the secretary Good Friday off with pay? Both positions are salaried. What do you think? Thanks.

Parabeagle · February 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-04-03 AT 09:55AM (CST)[/font][p]I'd do everything I possibly could to make sure that the secretary gets Good Friday off with pay, provided you can make the accommodation. First, the PR fallout from allowing a VP (who is exempt and is going to get paid anyway) to take all the Jewish holidays while a secretary (probably nonexempt salaried, I assume) can't take Good Friday would be horrendous and you would be opening yourself up for a discrimination claim. The problem lies in how to treat the paid time for the secretary, and how the paid time is treated for the VP. Do you require the VP to take vacation or PTO for the holidays not on your calendar? If so, you can use the same arrangement for the secretary.

sandra_d · February 2003

I am wondering why a secretary is "salaried"? Do you mean exempt? It would be unusual, in my experience, for a secretary to truly be performing exempt work.

I would think that, in general, you want to treat employees fairly. It is not unusual for high-level management to have different benefits then line staff. Perhaps this would be one argument. Perhaps you need to charge the executive with vacation time while he is out, since these are not company designated holidays. In any event, it seems like you should talk with this executive, and any other pertinent decision-makers, explain how his actions may be putting your company in jeapordy. Hopefully, someone at that level would be sensitive and agreeable enough to seek a solution that meets his needs as well as the needs of the company.

Perhaps changing your paid holiday policy to include "floating holidays" that employees can use as they wish (either add a few floaters to your current holiday schedule, or eliminate other paid holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, whatever and substitute with floaters; that way, staff can still have those days off, or work and take a religious holiday off, if they choose).

Don D · February 2003

Our secretaries (does anybody still call them that?) are salaried. There's not an FLSA conflict with a secretary being salaried. Exempt is another issue. I agree that this practice is sending terrible (and loud) signals throughout the company. Our CFO VP is also Jewish but if he takes a day off, he applies for a day of vacation like anybody else. I recommend a frank discussion (and policy change recommendation) at the highest level with which your corporate culture allows you to communicate.

mrbill · February 2003

By the way that I read your question, you seem to imply, that there are a high number of Jewish Holiday's. My sense is that for most, they celebrate on two days away from work, per year If they are Orthodox, then there may be another day or two in the mix. To me, not a high number. We celebrate Good Friday, as a paid holiday (one of 12), We have a minority of Jewish employees, and their religious absence has never been an issue. Try not to create Christian / Jewish / Muslim / Pagan (Yes, we had the request) Holidays. Just the days that are common throughout the country.

hswalker · February 2003

This is slightly off topic but it's a very sticky related issue. Our company has 24/7 shifts and for the hourly workers who work those shifts, we offer "premium pay" for those willing to work the designated holidays. As our workforce becomes more and more diverse, this issue has been a concern to the degree that this year we eliminated Easter Sunday and Good Friday from the list of holidays for which "premium pay" is granted, on the basis that we should not be paying people extra $$ to work those holidays unless we are also willing to pay employees of other faiths premium pay for working on the holidays of their faith.

I'm glad to see a dialog on this topic - I have read a few articles but I'm much more interested in what HR practitioners are doing in the "real world."

Theresa Gegen TX · February 2003

I assume that anyone who takes a day off with pay, which is not a normal paid day off (like new year's day), is using vacation or paid time off. A salaried person who takes an entire day off for personal reasons does not need to be paid for it, so that extra day off should be taken out of accrued paid leave time. If not, and the company is just giving time off with pay nilly willy, the company will run into problems.

If the two people want the time off with pay, they need to schedule it and use up their vacation/pto allotment.

Once that rule is in place, you may find that they aren't quite as religious as before.

Good Luck!!

Rockie · February 2003

In hindsight (which is always 20/20), these types of holidays that don't typically apply to the "majority", or have religious overtones, should probably be counted under the umbrella of "floating holidays". Jewish Holidays, Good Friday, Confederate Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Day, etc. If a company doesn't have "floating" holidays, employees who wish to, may take a PTO day for these hoidays.

In your case, I believe it would be feasible to let the secretary have Good Friday off since the VP has taken the initiative to take all Jewish holidays off unless you want to re-write your policy. Be prepared,though, that you will have a rash of requests for every single holiday you can think of and, because of the precedent set, you may need to grant these requests.

We give 7 "traditional" holidays and allow employees to take PTO (with proper notice) for any other holidays they personally celebrate.

Just curious...does the Jewish VP also take Christmas off as a holiday?

Christian & Jewish Holidays Question

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