In terms of holiday pay and time off, flexibility entails incorporating inclusive policies that are truly representative of employees. When employers encourage their workforce to take a paid day off to observe what’s important to them, they improve their retention rates and facilitate a sense of belonging for existing employees.
Given the diverse and expansive global workforce, inclusive holiday policies should be part and parcel of every organization's paid time off (PTO) handbook. In this blog we delve into the different types of inclusive holiday policies, from how employers can implement them, why employees support them, and how , in the end, everyone stands to benefit from them.
Why Do Companies Need Inclusive Holiday Policies?
An inclusive holiday policy can have significant positive impact on a company’s culture and employee experience when properly executed. This is why, it is critical to consider cultural components such as faith/religion and nationality of all employees into consideration when determining you company’s holiday calendar.
Due to the fact many holidays centre around religious or cultural beliefs, many employees can feel a sense of discomfort or depreciation when particular holidays are observed or highlighted throughout the year while others are not. To counter this and celebrate the diversity of your workforce, try implementing inclusive holiday policies.
For many employees, the standard designated holidays scheduled throughout the year either do not apply or are celebrated differently. For example, most common paid holidays such as Christmas day or Christmas eve and other religious holidays may not feel inclusive for everyone.
The social climate is another factor that you’ll want to consider when working on creating an inclusive workplace. For example, in the United States, Juneteenth celebrations that can be traced back to the nineteenth century officially became a paid Federal holiday in 2021 as a result of the national reckoning over race in the summer of 2020. Other federal holidays that are part of the federal wage system and the Fair Labor Standards Cct may or may not feel inclusive for everyone.
In Canada, National Indigenous Peoples Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are, in several provinces, celebrated as statutory holidays in June and September.
Around the world, Pride Month is also celebrated in the month of June.
As the remote and borderless workforce continues to grow, it’s imperative that companies lean into inclusivity when deciding which days to allocate as company-wide holidays.
How To Create a More Inclusive Holiday Policy
There are several ways organizations can adopt inclusive holiday policies that intentionally and tangibly demonstrate how much they value their employees.
Survey Your People
The first step to representation is understanding the needs of your employees by speaking with them directly. Of course, it’s not possible to commemorate every holiday, but sometimes even recognizing particular holidays will be greatly appreciated by your employees.
It’s important, to not make assumptions. As such, surveys represent one of the best ways to capture all the voices of your employees.
Collecting and using this data will indicate to your employees that a genuine interest in their backgrounds and beliefs is at the forefront of the organization's mind. It will also be the key ingredient to informing inclusive holiday policies that allow employees to feel heard and seen.
Anonymous surveys are an especially tactful way to gather information from employees who may not feel comfortable advocating for the holidays they’d like to celebrate. It will also help ensure the development of policies is truly representative of the organization. Surveys can create a gateway to cultural growth and are a meaningful way to establish an environment that welcomes and respects employee cultures and preferences.
Develop A Company-Wide Holiday Calendar
Creating a holiday calendar is another meaningful way to drive awareness about important religious, cultural, and social events. It can be thought of as a way to establish an internal community in which inclusive traditions can be built. Not to mention, your employees will be better-informed about the observances of their colleagues and peers.
Flexibility Through Floating Holidays
No single holiday encompasses or is of consequence to all employees. So, employers can offer floating holidays, providing flexibility. Usually, a floating holiday allows employees to take paid vacation days of their choosing. In other instances, employers will share a list of holidays they don’t offer employees paid time off for by default and allow employees to choose from there.
Whether it’s one day, a couple of days, or even a few, floating holidays are usually in addition to statutory holidays mandated by the government. This is because most national labor laws require overtime pay or holiday premium pay for government-mandated holidays.
Floating holidays have the added benefit of fostering an inclusive environment for employees from diverse backgrounds and cultures, as these days will typically be used as a paid holiday to celebrate their cultural or religious holiday. Floating holidays also help improve employee satisfaction and go a long way toward attracting and retaining talent.
They are also a great option for companies with expatriate employees. This allows your workers from other countries to take their national holidays even if the holiday falls on a regularly scheduled daily tour.
In order for organizations to develop a successful floating holiday policy, employers should be sure to incorporate guidelines and parameters. This could include setting a restriction on how many employees can take a day off on the same day, for example. Clear expectations are crucial to an effective floating holiday policy. Once designed, you can hold a Q&A session that empowers employees with the knowledge and confidence to take off the days they’re entitled to.
Trust Your Employees
When considering an inclusive holiday policy, the element of trust is a necessity. You may be unaware of all the holidays that people choose to celebrate. However, you can empower and give employees agency to honour their own cultural and religious traditions with holiday pay and time off.
Fostering working relationships that are built on trust is not only healthy but also promotes productivity, open communication, and loyalty.
Recognize That People Experience Holidays Differently
While many employees will excitedly look forward to holidays as a time of celebration and connectedness with loved ones, others may not. For many, holidays are a difficult time mentally and financially. Acknowledging this is an important part of building a successful inclusive holiday policy.
Despite being rooted in religious and cultural assumptions, Christmas continues to dominate end-of-year observances in North America and elsewhere. This kind of prioritization leaves little to no room for religious, spiritual, or cultural observances of others.
Those in less economically privileged positions may feel pressure to spend money they don’t have during Christmas holidays. Similarly, a company culture that pushes alcohol consumption may cause discomfort among employees who don’t drink.
Being mindful of sensitivities like these is a best practice in making everyone feel included.
Offer Alternative Types of Paid Time Off
Volunteer Days
Paid time off for volunteering is increasingly part of the inclusive holiday policy package that corporations offer their employees and for very good reason. Otherwise known as days of service, volunteer days can help boost morale, brand awareness, and employee engagement. They can also help attract and retain top-tier talent.
Despite their benefits, be mindful when designing a PTO program that involves volunteer days. Here are some things to keep in mind::
- A cookie-cutter approach to volunteering may replicate supposed best practices from other organizations that don’t necessarily work for yours. The copied program may not be suitable or align with the goals of every organization that has chosen to recycle an idea.
- The executives or coordinators of charitable projects may start to prioritize their own personal philanthropic preferences. This tends to result in a reflection of the affinities of senior management as opposed to a genuine representation of the employees.
- There is often pressure for employees to get invovled once an organization has established a program. The problem is that this type of “mandatory volunteering” can decrease employee motivation.
When it comes to a volunteering holiday that consists of a paid day off, it is key to emphasize the meaning for the company and include all stakeholders in the decision-making process. Research has also called attention to an increase in an employee's sense of purpose and well-being, and even their physical and mental health, which result from volunteering.
Mental Health Days
While work-related stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout are not new, the pandemic highlighted the responsibility that organizations have in addressing the mental well-being of their employees.
Distinct from vacation days, sick days, and other paid days off, taking mental health breaks is part of facilitating a healthy work-life balance. Organizations can include mental health days as part of their benefits package. In fact, the status of our mental health is directly linked to our productivity, energy, motivation, focus and ability to connect with co-workers.
In spite of their importance, employees are far less likely to take a mental health day than a sick day for a physical ailment. It is therefore part of the employer's responsibility to make it part of their inclusive holiday policy.
Assigning holiday pay and time off for hardworking employees to rest and recharge so that they can show up to work as their best selves is simply good management. Unlimited PTO
Unlimited paid time off is a well-regarded and sought-after component of an inclusive holiday policy. Also known as an unlimited vacation day policy, unlimited PTO is a great way to integrate flexibility into a workforce that increasingly demands it. Unlimited PTO enables employees to take paid days off without restrictions and without impacting what is typically a set annual leave allowance.
To ensure the policy doesn’t interfere with the day-to-day running of the company, employees are expected to liaise and coordinate with their peers to ensure work continues in their absence. Sometimes, adding extra vacation days is done through an employee's compressed work schedule, which means they work extra hours on their work days. Other employers provide this benefit as long as employee performance is not affected.
Unlimited PTO is mutually beneficial for employers and employees for several reasons.
- A boost in employee productivity: When employees feel valued, they feel motivated to not only do their job, but to do their job well.
- Higher employee morale: When employees don’t have to worry about eating into an assigned number of vacation days, they can enjoy the freedom of resting, resetting, and recharging when they actually need to, which is priceless. This will allow them to productively hit the ground running upon their return.
- A trusting employee-centric culture: When employees are trusted to pick and choose their paid days off, they feel empowered and are more likely to feel that their employer cares about their mental and physical well-being.
- Increased talent retention: Work-life balance is essential for today’s workforce. Beyond a paycheck, employees want to see holiday pay and time off, like unlimited PTO, which reflects this.
Everyone Stands To Benefit from Inclusive Holiday Policies
When it comes to implementing an inclusive holiday policy, it comes down to the unique needs and circumstances of your business.
Are floating holidays best for your business model? Or would unlimited PTO work best? Are your policies mindful of the diversity of your employees? Have mental health days been taken into consideration?
These are all questions to be taken on board when deciding how to proceed with holiday pay and time off.
With top-down encouragement to intentionally embrace open and inclusive working conditions that don’t prioritize one set of religious, cultural, or social celebrations over another, everyone stands to benefit. The understanding that the organization permits and endorses learning about different cultures, religions, and identities should be very apparent and reflected in holiday policies.
Similarly, when the needs of employees guide how workplace policies are built, they tend to boostproductivity and morale. This speaks to the elements of trust when allowing employees to determine a specific paid day off or when granting unlimited paid time off.
This also includes giving employees the right to choose whether they will engage in volunteer programs or feel empowered enough to take their mental health days, feel comfortable fasting, or with taking a step back from gifting alcohol at work functions.
Irrespective of how you choose to integrate inclusive holiday policies into your business, what’s imperative is clear communication throughout the processes.
Craft the Perfect Leave Policy with Borderless
Not sure how to manage an inclusive leave policy for your global team? Want to ensure that your new policy still adheres to local laws and regulations? Borderless can help. Speak with our team of experts about inclusive holiday policies and other employee benefits.
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