Should people who don’t celebrate Christmas get to have it off work?

[Username638]

Might be a controversial topic, I’m not sure. I work in a small team and there always has to be at least two people in over Christmas. One of the people does not celebrate Christmas due to their religion. They get a week or two off earlier in the year for Eid. Now that it has come to deciding who is having what time off for Christmas, the colleague who doesn’t celebrate it has said he might go for a trip away. I find this unfair really because he has already had his celebration and his time off work. It was a given, he didn’t need to fight over holidays, he just was granted the time off (which is fine obviously, that’s not the issue. I’m just saying he has already had his celebration and now it’s ours).

I don’t think there should be any rules in place that he can’t have any time off over Xmas because I do think it would be unfair and not right. But I just would’ve hoped that he would make the decision off his own back to work Xmas eve, Xmas day and Boxing Day so that those who celebrate it can have it off. I feel like it’s common decency? I did ask what he is up to for Xmas a few weeks ago and he said nothing as he doesn’t celebrate it. But now he’s decided he might go away for the whole week of Christmas and I just find it selfish tbh.

Where the hell did the OP say he requested Christmas off? She explicitly said that the manager is not accepting requests and the rosta will be publicised when it is ready. OP is upset because he might hypothetically get a day off at Christmas and also because he did get it off last year. And he is the one who is an arsehole? Seriously?

I always work over xmas because it isnt an event on my religious calendar but quite frankly if you are not a devout christian then you have no right to take christmas off either.
The festival of greed disgusts me.

Pathetic.

Can't wait; the more bank holidays the better. UK has fewer public holidays than most other countries in the world.Nepal has 35 public holidays; Scandinavian countries get around 14; Scotland 10;
England and Wales 8

but does he have Eid protected? The OP doesn't actually say that.

Where the hell did the OP say he requested Christmas off?

Oh you know …. The opening post and many after that.

Absolutely, this sounds like an issue of poor management causing division within the team. The Christmas rota should be out well in advance, so that people can plan accordingly.

I voted YANBU because of your updates that you need to use your AL and that he had it off last year. I think it’s only fair to share it around really, especially if you don’t celebrate it at all. I don’t think it matters whether you go to mass or not.

Also it sounds like your managers a bit of a dick.

From what I see living in the ME for many years Eid mostly consists of hosting,shopping and eating far too much,just like Christmas really.

@Username638 I agree with you that your colleague is being selfish - he has Eid off every year, when he is celebrating with his family, he should let others in the team have the time off over Christmas to have time with theirs . As an aside before I had children I was happy to work over the Christmas break as I know my colleagues had no childcare over Christmas.

I don’t celebrate Christmas and happily work the whole period. I’m self employed but didn’t same when I was working for a company as it felt like the nice thing to do. In return people were considerate and made sure I was able to book AL for the festivals I celebrated. Perhaps Im being naive but it just felt like basic give and take to me.

OP, I’m guessing you’ve made sure to check that all the other Christians at work definitely believe in, and celebrate Christmas? Make sure they’re also worthy of their time off.

Or is it just the Muslim guy that you’re certain wouldn’t be celebrating?

Yeah your colleague is a selfish arse.

Scotland doesn't get 10 it's generally 8 exactly the same as England

2 at New Year
2 at Easter
1 in May - split some take the first others the 2nd
1 in September Glasgow and Edinburgh are different
2 at Christmas.

The odd company might give one in July (Glasgow Fair / Edinburgh Trades) but that's sort of dying out.

Agree completely.

A Christian calendar is imposed on us in this country despite our population becoming increasingly secular. Therefore people with family want the Christian holidays even if they don't celebrate the occasion because most people are off work and school. I am a Muslim who loves Christmas because the whole extended family gets together for a lovely meal and precious time together (which rarely happens at other times of the year).

Your issue should be with your employer who is not allocating holidays in a fair manner. Not the Muslim guy who is well within his rights to request his time off whenever he likes.

As for time for Eid, your colleague is lucky that he is given the holidays. Many of my teacher friends have had to fight tooth and nail just to get one day off for such a significant religious celebration. One friend has actually worked on Eid several times over the last few years because the school just refused point blank to recognise Eid as a valid reason for time off (despite most of the students being off because they were also celebrating Eid). Islamophobia much...

Nah he wants to go on holiday and doesn’t think OPs Christmas celebrations need to be factored in to that. It doesn’t honestly sound like OP is particularly religious, but if she was, mass is said Sat evening and she could have her traditional Christmas dinner in the evening (it’s really not unusual). For Christians Easter is a much bigger deal and moves like Ramadan with the lunar calendar. We are not so different.

Yes they should be allowed the time off. It's the one time in the year you get a longer break.

Holidays/shifts should be allocated fairly regardless of religion and other beliefs.

As long as company rules are followed for holiday/shift allocation there's no reason why anyone should volunteer to work those days.

He's possibly doing it to prove a point. He is entitled to take his A/L in the same way as any other employee.
Or maybe, because he doesn't celebrate Christmas whilst everyone and everything around him is Christmas orientated, he's decided to go away and get away from the celebrations that don't concern him.
The fact that he took a week off for Eid, presumably from his A/L entitlement also, is irrelevant. He took a week off that noone else wanted. What he wanted it for is hus business.

OP is Eid specifically reserved for him? In which case what would happen were there a second Muslim on your team? Or is it first come first served/nobody else ever wants those particular days off?
Do you really not take leave during Eid out of consideration, or is it because you don't really want those random days with no BHs attached?

Are you JW by any chance?

OP in this country bank holidays mostly coincide with Christian festivals. It is an advantage Christians have.

I'm not Christian so I have always volunteered for on call over Xmas when I was working where that was a thing.

What is fair OP is that no member of staff works all the bank holidays, you take a day each.

Eid is a red herring, Easter is the most important Christian festival which is probably why people keep asking you that.

I live in an area where Vaisakhi is big, and I usually join in with some of the festivities but I would not expect an employer to give me time off to celebrate.

@Username638 i think a lot of posters are being pedantic. Your comparison to the 30th birthday was a good comparison.

i think it would be nice of your colleague to work as, as you say Xmas Day doesn’t mean anything to him.

i think mentioning Eid got peoples knickers in a twist but if you flip the scenario and made a post that said you wanted a couple of days off to celebrate Eid with family and friends, but a colleague who does not celebrate and can take leave at a different time as they don’t have specific plans isn’t offering to let me have this time off, it would be the same principle.

in this scenario, the 30th birthday scenario and the Eid scenario human decency should prevail.

so I’m 100% with you op here.

@Username638 Can I just confirm that he actually hasn't been granted the leave yet? You said you are waiting for your manager to put out a rota/request rota, but the way your posts are written, it sounds like he has already requested the leave and been granted it? I'm probably misinterpreting what's being said though! Is he just saying that he wants the holiday days and hoping to get them along with everyone else?

People saying it's not the same if you aren't religious are talking shit. Midwinter celebrations have had massive cultural significance in the country long before the Christians came along and changed it to Christmas. You don't have to be religious to celebrate Christmas.

This! This is what I was waiting for, I believe this is what the op was trying to get at.