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Religion in the workplace

post #1 of 9
11/28/11 at 2:35pm
Thread Starter 

Ok, I've been doing this long enough to know that most people dislike working Sundays. So they claim they need it off to attend church and my response is always "I think god would understand if you skip Sunday service to got to work, he would rather you pay your mortgage". This shocks most people when I tell them that, probably because they are expecting me to "understand" and say "ok, no problem, you can have every Sunday off when the rest of the staff works every Sunday". I even had one person tell me that it's against the law to make them work on Sunday if they are practicing their faith. Well, the first Sunday he decided not to show, I gave him all the time in the world to go to church and never heard from an attorney...

But I have just come accross a new one....

I have a cook that claims he is a muslim and he needs 20 to 30 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 to go pray. My exec allows this (why I can't for the life of me imagine) but it is affecting the flow of business. How do I go about telling this guy he needs to stay on the line and he can do his praying after his shift?

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post #2 of 9
11/28/11 at 3:52pm

If it were me, I'd find him a Muslim restaurant. When he goes for his "time to pray", I'd tell him to go "pray" over there, and after he was finished, he could ask them for a job. I don't know about anyone else's God, but I do know that I've never been turned away from a church at any reasonable time. 

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

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post #3 of 9
11/28/11 at 4:03pm

There are exceptions for muslims whose work schedule don't allow the prayer breaks, called Qada I think. Whether his particular branch of faith will recognize this job as qualifying for Qada is unknown

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post #4 of 9
11/28/11 at 4:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by IceMan View Post

If it were me, I'd find him a Muslim restaurant. When he goes for his "time to pray", I'd tell him to go "pray" over there, and after he was finished, he could ask them for a job. I don't know about anyone else's God, but I do know that I've never been turned away from a church at any reasonable time. 


IceMan, that's because you only pray for Chicago style dogs and Pizza. You may want to start praying for the Bears come to think about it.........................
 

 

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post #5 of 9
11/28/11 at 4:29pm

LOL. Not so much BillyB. A man's got to know his limitations.

 

Now when I was in the service, you could find and go to any kinda mass you wanted, at any time, on your own time, no questions. Allah, Budda, Christ, Dieties of Every Fashion, (A through F so far, get it? I could go on, I'll be here all week). Do you want to work and earn an honest living, or do you need to draw extra attention for whatever reasons you may have? 

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

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post #6 of 9
11/28/11 at 6:10pm

We have a Muslim woman who works in the lab with us and she goes to pray on her breaks.  We made it clear up front that nobody has special rules for them, this is a business and if she cant handle it she can go else where for employment. 

 

When I owned my 2nd restaurant in Austin I had a kid come in with a Kippah and Talit apply for a job.  VERY qualified but he demanded I give him off Friday nights and Sat till sundown.  I laughed at him, explained that I was raised Orthodox and when i made my career choice I understood what I was going to have to sacrifice to get ahead and be successful.  He never showed up for his first shift.

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post #7 of 9
11/28/11 at 7:27pm

Deacon, approach this one with a bit more tact.

 

For those who insist on having Sundays off for "worship", my stock answer was always "I go Sunday nights, or during the week.  I'm sure you can as well".

 

I've known and worked with a lot of Muslims, what they did on their lunch breaks was their business, even the older guys with the white caps worked a regular 8 hr shift. I have always made exceptions during Ramadan, though, and scheduled breaks to coincide with sundown.

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post #8 of 9
11/29/11 at 8:06am
Thread Starter 

Thanks everyone for the feedback. But I guess my real issue is that my boss has already given him permission for this. I've voiced my opinion to him but he just shrugs his shoulders and gives me no support. 

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post #9 of 9
11/29/11 at 9:13am

Good answer Chef.

 

In Spain, there are work contracts, and all of these theological issues are clearly stated during an interview and before signing the contract.

 

I have never heard of time to pray in Spain ... Most Muslims work in Muslim run organizations as Spain is still predominately a Roman Catholic country.

 

Margcata.

 

 

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