Celebrating a holiday and ‘true inclusion’

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This article was published 02/01/2022 (990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in his life, Haseeb Ahmad will use a paid day off to celebrate Eid al-Adha with his family.

The fifth-year manager at Education Canada Group is one of many employees reaping the benefits of the organization’s new policy, which provides workers two paid days off to celebrate cultural, spiritual or religious holidays.

“The policy makes me feel at home with this company,” Ahmad said. “I used to feel like an outcast and felt like my holidays didn’t matter.”

Ahmad said in previous years, he would bank vacation time so he could celebrate Eid al-Adha (one of two official holidays within Islam). If he didn’t have the leave time available, he would be forced to work while his family celebrated their Muslim traditions without him.

“Knowing my employer cares about me makes me want to work twice as hard,” Ahmad said. “I feel honoured to work for someone who cares about everyone else’s needs.”

The policy was implemented by Liz Choi, who was promoted to chief executive officer of the Robertson College parent company in December.

Choi said the movement, which builds on Clinic Psychology Manitoba’s #CelebrateEverything campaign, was years in the making.

“Our workforce has become very diverse,” she said. “We want to make our workplace a space of true inclusion and give all of our team members a sense of belonging.”

Choi said the days off aren’t special treatment and staff members can book the days off as they would any vacation time.

“We don’t want this to turn into a process-heavy thing,” she said. “Internally, we will have those days marked and arrange coverage accordingly.”

Choi said a significant influence for the policy was Dr. Rehman Abdulrehman, a psychologist who helped develop Winnlove, a civic pride campaign focused on making Winnipeg more inclusive.

“He is one of the pioneers and subject-matter experts when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion,” Choi said. “He gave us structure, language and made it easier for us to make this happen.”

Abdulrehman said the initiative is a step in the right direction and the start of bigger things to come.

“I think that any company that works towards a better inclusion by incorporating a policy like this would demonstrate that they take the wellness and well-being of their employees very seriously,” he said. “I think the policy will improve retention and increase hires.”

Choi said she’s hopeful other businesses and companies adopt the initiative going forward. “We are taking a leadership role to show the world how this is possible and that this is actually good for business.”

Choi believes the policy, which is effective immediately, will bring more energy, excitement and joy to the workplace.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca