The city of Seattle will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on October 14, a day when many organizations are observing the federal holiday of Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples Day recognizes and honors Native American history and culture rather than Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.
There’s a lesson here for companies thinking through their holiday policies. With increasingly diverse workforces, companies need to consider whose experience is – or isn’t – being prioritized in whatever set of paid holidays they provide. An inclusive holiday policy can cultivate a sense of belonging for all employees. No one set of holidays will be meaningful for every employee, so flexibility is key.
“There’s just more openness to the fact that people need flexibility, and when they have that flexibility, they are more engaged, more productive and more likely to stay with the organization,” according to Reverb founder and CEO Mikaela Kiner.
- In the SHRM Holiday Schedule Survey, 30% of companies reported offering employees one or two floating holidays per year. Employees can choose any holiday or other meaningful day to use their floating holiday. These are days that do not roll over from year to year if unused.
- Holiday swapping, a less common benefit reported by around 18% of companies in the SHRM Holiday Schedule Survey, allows employees to trade out a company holiday that they may not celebrate for one not covered in the list of company holidays.
- For some non-religious employees, the idea of paid holidays – even if self-selected – may feel out of sync with their beliefs due to the religious connotation of a holiday. When explaining your holiday swapping or floating holiday benefit to employees, consider broadening the definition of a holiday to a day of personal significance, whether it is an anniversary, a graduation date, or something entirely personal to your employee.
- Get creative with the idea of a holiday to promote your company values – if civic engagement is important, consider making election day a holiday. If fun or work-life balance are core values, consider giving employees their birthdays off to celebrate.
- Acknowledge the traditions of your employees. Displaying a multi-cultural calendar on a company’s intranet site, for example, can be a helpful way of maintaining awareness around important events and holidays. The University of Missouri publishes a guide to religious holidays with recommended accommodations such as avoiding deadlines or providing food accommodations on certain dates.
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Floating Holidays
Floating holidays are another popular concept used by employers to attract top talent and keep them happy. A floating holiday is a benefit certain employers offer employees on top of their PTO or vacation days. Essentially, a floating holiday is a payday off that can be provided as a substitution for a public holiday. Unlike a public holiday, however, the employee can use their floating holiday on a day of their choice at their discretion. Most employers choose to offer a floating holiday to be inclusive of diverse religious beliefs or cultures. Many employees observe non-mainstream traditional or religious holidays, and floating holidays give your staff the chance to celebrate religious holidays that may not be part of the official company holiday calendar.
Moreover, suppose your business doesn’t already commemorate public holidays like Presidents’ Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day with paid time off. In that case, floating holidays allow employees to observe these public holidays. While there are no stipulations in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) about offering your employees a floating holiday, it may make your team feel more valued if you offer flexible choices for time off like this. Moreover, it allows your employees to save more of their PTO for sick days, vacations, or other personal needs.
A floating holiday is a combination of PTO and an actual holiday like Independence Day or Christmas. For example, you’d have to pay out a floating holiday upon termination according to your PTO policy and applicable state law in the situation that a floating holiday is not tied to a specific event, which is why it’s essential to be informed about changing state laws. On the other hand, if there is a particular holiday like Christmas Eve the floating holiday is tied to, then an employee who quits in July will not be entitled to a payout for Christmas Eve. This is because he’s right to be paid on Christmas Eve was conditioned upon, and tied to, being employed through Christmas Eve.
Defining Expectations
When it comes to floating holidays, employees need to have a clear understanding of what they can expect. Are there certain designated days, or can they choose any day at their discretion? For example, let’s assume Christmas falls on a Thursday. Your employee may decide to take the following Friday as a floating holiday so that they have a long weekend off. Or, the Fourth of July could be on a Tuesday, and you may want to offer Monday as a floating holiday. It all comes down to what works best for your business during a calendar year.
Each business has its own unique needs and circumstances. For example, suppose your business is in manufacturing and to keep up with demand during a peak period in December. In that case, your plant needs all hands on deck; you can’t have all your top workers taking the day after Christmas as a floating holiday. All your shifts need to be covered. These are all factors to account for before deciding whether a floating holiday is a good idea for your company. It’s essential to communicate all of your expectations clearly in your PTO policy and employee guidebook.
Related: THE MORE INCLUSIVE NEW NORMAL: A DEI SERIES FOR PEOPLE LEADERS
Whatever your holiday policy, tie it back to your values as an organization and be clear on your intent to be inclusive. Whether you belong to an established company interested in refreshing old policies or a startup designing holiday policies for the first time, Reverb People’s free startup-friendly employee handbook offers a comprehensive list of sample policies.
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