Ramadan in the work place .

I was under the impression that the fasting could be optional if your job depended on you having to eat, such as heavy manual work etc?
 
PhillyDee said:
I was under the impression that the fasting could be optional if your job depended on you having to eat, such as heavy manual work etc?
Click to expand...

only in the the doctor says you shouldnt fast then its ok. example if your ill . my sister who has seziures (sp) hasnt been fasting for 2 years becuase she takes mediaction at reugualr times of the day.
 
TangoSixteen said:
This stuffs just getting silly now.

I'd love to see some of these muppets pull the ramadan card on an oil rig for instance.

lol

They would probably get thrown off the side.
Click to expand...

The trip before last my colleague had somebody sharing his cabin. The chap was up at stupid o'clock washing himself and readying for prayer. I chuckled to myself, as I would, because it wasn't my sleep pattern getting disturbed. People have their rights don't you know;) Except the right to a sound sleep apparently.
 
I think the point is, the OP has already finalised staff schedules to best utilise this partticular employee, and scheduled other staff around his core hours... it's not a question of if it's holiday/unpaid leave/other.

As a resource planner for a 140 FTE call centre, I use 3 main rules:

* 14 days notice required for leave to be considered.

* Each team given 15% shrinkage at any time.

* More than 14 consecutive days off requires senior management authorisation.

If either of the first 2 conditions are failed, then a decline is given - regardless. If the operation then want's to over-rule this, then so be it.
 
Last edited:
Bony Maloney said:
The trip before last my colleague had somebody sharing his cabin. The chap was up at stupid o'clock washing himself and readying for prayer. I chuckled to myself, as I would, because it wasn't my sleep pattern getting disturbed. People have their rights don't you know;) Except the right to a sound sleep apparently.
Click to expand...

I should think the H+S officer would have something to say about somebody causing potentially hazardous sleep deprivation for others!
 
You don't have to allow time off for religous reasons, you could just point blank refuse, however if you feel he is an asset to the company try to come to an agreement but bear in mind that he will then be requesting eid at odd times of the year with no real prior warning and if you are employing an increasingly large amount of muslims then they will all demand this time off. My rule is never employ more than a couple of muslims, they may work hard but their holidays are a bitch.
 
Maybe you can rearrange his lunch hour to suit the ramadan timetable? So he can pray and do other ramadan related stuff during his break?

A whole month off work is just ludicrous.
 
I'd like time off for lots of things but I have a job. If he is unable or unwilling to do the hours that HE SIGNED UP FOR then tough.
 
Treat it like any other holiday request. As much as anything, if you can show that you're doing that then he has no comeback from a discrimination perspective.
 
Why is time off needed DURING Ramadan? It's just another standard day just you'll be not eating or drinking of course.

The only time off I take is if the last day lands on a weekday and then 8 weeks afterwards the same again so in total 2 days off. If it's a Friday then I'll have the following Monday too to make a 4day weekends super special lie in due to eating too much food and quite possibly doing huge ploppers!!

My employer asked me if there were any special requirements that they should make or be aware of when I started permanent employment and my HR manager seemed to be very interested as she had no insight into any religious activities at all especially where festivals and holidays are concerned.

Did you ask the guy when he started or just assumed there was none because he didn't mention anything? It's easy to lose track and forget to mention it until it's closer to that time of year because nobody knows the exact date it starts until the date comes closer anyway.
 
I think religion shouldn't be a reason for any special treatment. You're running a business, not a mosque/church/temple/synagogue/sacred grove/etc.

So I see this as a request for time off that should be treated like any other request for time off. "I want a month off for Ramadan"..."I want a month off for Lent"..."I want a month off to meditate and pray in a temple in the Himalayas"..."I want a month off to help on an archaelogical dig"..."I want a month off to play Starcraft II"...all the same to me. That's not to say I think the answer should always be "No, don't be silly".

I'd have a chat with him and see if a mutually acceptable arrangement can be made. Maybe he actually wants something else and he assumes you wouldn't allow it, so he's asked for time off. Worth finding out. It would also be worth finding out if he wants an extra month off every year - it's not like Ramadan is a one-off.

You might need legal advice though, as religion does have privileged status in this country and you might have a legal obligation to give special treatment to theists of approved religions.
 
Khaaan! said:
Why is time off needed DURING Ramadan? It's just another standard day just you'll be not eating or drinking of course.
Click to expand...

the 30/29 days are not standard days, like someone mentioned its a very very special month where you can gain great rewards and benefit loads each day. for muslims its the best month of the year, ive known ppl to be in tears just because they made it to another month of ramadan.

whenever ive had time off for ramadan ive always had it coming out of my annual leave, i would not expect anything else

i think the law says you can have religious holidays such as eid off. i dont think ramadan is included though
 
Last edited:
OP, so he asked for annual leave for 10th August for how many days? And he asked for this at the end of July? doesnt give you much scope to sort out cover does it. If you can get cover for him then let him take it as leave whether its for ramadan or starcraft 2 makes not the slightest bit of difference.

He can still fast whilst at work - even though its not ideal (as others have mentioned) its better than not fasting at all.


very very special month where you can gain great rewards and benefit loads each day
Click to expand...

I used to wonder why my views are becoming more hardline-ish anti-religion...i dont anymore....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom