Swapping out religious holidays worth weighing up

Media statement Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Swapping out religious holidays worth weighing up

Though New Zealand's main statutory holidays are closely tied in with our traditional religious days off, there is every reason to allow our workplaces the option of swapping them for holidays important to people of people of other religions.

The idea was raised by the Employers & Manufacturers Association (Northern) in the context of the review of the Holidays Act to illustrate the diversity of our workplaces and the faiths of the people that work in them.

"Many companies close during the Christmas New Year period and likewise for Easter, so swapping statutory holidays for other days is not easy," said Alasdair Thompson, EMA's chief executive.

"But there's no reason why employees should not be able to swap the same number of days off to celebrate their own religion's holy days.

"While there should be no law requiring employers to agree to a request to do this, employers would be relaxed about it so long as it was agreed by both the employer and employee.

"24/7 operations often need someone to work on a public holiday but not the full complement of staff. If some people wanted to transfer their holiday to say, Ramadan, then they should be able to work the current traditional public holiday at their usual pay rate and get the day they really want off on pay.

"This sort of flexibility, where holidays can be transferred by agreement, would be really helpful for both employers and employees.

"It would not work if some people wanted to take Ramadan off instead of Christmas or Easter if a business was closed then, but the entitlement to four weeks personal leave allows plenty of scope for people to take leave to meet their religious needs."

ENDS

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