Supporting Ramadan in the workplace
This year, Ramadan begins on Monday 11 March and ends on Wednesday 10 April. Many Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. They may also wish to spend time in prayer, engage in charitable activities, and spend time with family and friends to celebrate.
During this time, many Muslims are faced with the challenge of balancing their religious commitments with work, so now is an ideal time to remind managers of the importance of supporting any staff who are observing the Islamic holy month.
Helpful adjustments may include:
A temporary reduction to the number of days you require staff to attend the office, or adjustments to working hours e.g. earlier start and finish times to suit their needs;
Avoiding food and drink in meetings and avoiding any social events that are centred around food and drink e.g. team lunches or after work drinks;
Try to avoid requiring fasting staff to work late or scheduling key meetings for later in the day, when energy levels / concentration may be low;
Be flexible around break times and accommodate time for prayer where possible within the working day;
Be prepared for a possible increase in annual leave requests during Ramadan, particularly during the last 10 days which are considered to be the most sacred, and approve these where possible;
It's important that managers don't make assumptions, but instead engage with individuals about their preferences. Not everyone that observes Ramadan will actually be fasting, and of those who are, some may still be happy to attend the workplace as normal during this time.
Any temporary adjustments would be subject to the operational needs of your business, but the emphasis should be on accommodating requests where possible and making sure there is a clear business justification where it's not.
Finally, it's also important to ensure consistency across faiths - some other religions will also include periods of fasting so make sure these are treated the same as far as possible as those observing Ramadan. Businesses should have key religious events and festivals of all faiths on theirs internal calendars to send a positive message to staff that they are recognised.
You can find further tips for employers in the recent guidelines published by Muslim Friendly Employers here.
Newsletter prepared by Starford employment lawyer, Amanda Lyons.
If you need further guidance on supporting different religions and creating an inclusive workplace culture, please contact our team on hello@starfordlegalhr.com