Inclusion moment at work-religion- help

[Boxshibe]

I've been asked to do an inclusion moment at work. And have the topic of religious inclusion.
Work is very diverse and inclusive but I've noticed they don't celebrate all major religions. How do I sensitivity bring this up?

You could just say what you’ve written above. You’ve been asked to look into x and you’ve noticed y.

Though I would question if your workplace needs to celebrate all major religious holidays? What do they currently do for one religion that you think they should do for all?

Just suggest they put up some posters and/or send an email wishing everyone that celebrates Eid/Xmas etc a happy time.

We celebrate Christianity Islam Hinduism but not Judaism. I don't know whether it's an oversite but as I've been here over a year and not seen anything. From a personal point of view as a Jew it would be nice.

A good starting point might be to ask some of your colleagues what they would like or find helpful? For example, if teams regularly socialise in the pub, that might exclude people from some religions: could some events be non-alcohol related? Are Muslims helped to meet their prayer obligations? Are they allowed time off for Hajj? Does your canteen offer alternatives for people to eat?

How do you "celebrate" these religions? Decorations, special days in the canteen?

Or just an acknowledgement by senior management by email at the appropriate time of the year "Eid mubarak/shana tova/happy christmas/happy diwali to those who celebrate", kind of thing.

We don't single out any religious holidays at all at my workplace (including Christmas - we have a "holiday party" in early December) so we are inclusive by not including anyone I guess

We have quiet rooms for prayers. Hold fun days away from pub. Have time off for festivals etc. Variety of food in canteen. Just nothing for Judaism

How do they deal with the Jewish holiday season, are/would they be sensitive to any observant people needing a load of days off in a short period over September and October?

That's a good question. I have no answers for that.

Could you ask for volunteers representing different religions to share how they celebrate special occasions? You could also include non-faith based belief systems such as humanism. We have this at work and it's really interesting - people often share photographs and recipes for special dishes.

That’s interesting. I’m Jewish and work for a company that is big on diversity and inclusion and they also don’t do anything for Jewish holidays. We are a very small minority 0.4% of the population and I think I may be the only Jew at my work. I don’t advertise my religion as I don’t want to get drawn into conversations about Israel and Palestine.

What's the purpose of the inclusion moment? Is it to raise awareness of something or identify issues with exclusion in your workplace? Ours are usually the former, in which case I'd probably give an overview of Judaism - your beliefs and practices - if you're comfortable doing that.

I'd have to know what an 'inclusion moment' is exactly before I answered.

Also, is part of 'inclusion' being allowed to just come to work without all the bells and whistles? What problem is trying to be solved here?

So do something then? Maybe there aren't many Jewish people or the ones there didn't bother to want to do something. Highly likely they would single out one religion to exclude If that's what you're implying?

YY to understanding what you mean by 'inclusion moment' before I can comment.

Is the purpose a lip-service acknowledgement of each religion? Is the purpose to make sure the workplace does not have structural barriers or practices that make life difficult for people of various faiths?

there are far more religions than the ones you have mentioned OP. Just adding Judaism to the list is still not inclusive.

What on earth is an inclusion moment?

It's a 5 min slideshow and discussion on how to improve as a company. Others have been on lgbtqa+ colleagues discussing what it's like being them and ways attitudes and view have changed in the company. Colleagues with adhd and autism etc. I was given religion as though not especially religious I am Jewish.

Flexible working to allow for an earlier finish on Fridays? Particularly in winter?

The most obvious thing to do is to ask everyone in your company - both those with and without faiths - what could be done to improve working conditions and take it from there. I don't think it helps to silo people.

WTF is an inclusion moment?!

Maybe there was no one Jewish in the company to celebrate any of the holidays before? Or maybe no one religious who wanted it to be celebrated?

Have you thought about simply asking? Maybe offer to head up some of these celebrations yourself?

Oof. Is it mandatory to attend / contribute?

Sounds insufferable:

It seems a bit unfair they currently leave jews out. I think there are about 260,000 jews in the UK, 800,000 hindus and 2.6m muslims (and over 30m Christians)

Our company put in a Eid Mubarak/happy Easter/Shana tova in the company newsletter.
Or the director will just say the above depending on the holiday during the all staff. This year Rosh Hashanah was forgotten. Director is Jewish and he hastily sent out a ps email when his (non Jewish) PA reminded him.

everyone takes their holidays as annual leave and the company offers additional days closure over Christmas.

if anyone wants to do something for their holiday they’re encouraged to and people will pop in and ask questions/eat the free food on offer. This year director bought in honey cakes for Yom Kippur .