Ramadan highlights how workplaces can better support Muslim employees

TORONTO –

Khadija Waseem loves tea and low, so when she informed colleagues she was savouring her final cup forward of the beginning of Ramadan’s fasting interval final week, they had been fast to tease her.

“Everybody was joking, ‘Please, you’ve been drinking this in every meeting and we’ve had back-to-back meetings,”‘ mentioned the Toronto-based technique guide at Monitor Deloitte.

But the second turned “very magical” when a colleague, who Waseem mentioned “did not fit the identity of what we think Muslims look like,” excitedly shared that they had been marking Ramadan too and had given up espresso greater than every week in the past.

The encounter was a reminder of the camaraderie that may develop in an inclusive workplace, however Waseem and others know that feeling and the supportive environment enabling such conversations continues to be missing in lots of workplaces.

Although Islam was Canada’s second most practised faith in 2021 with 1.8 million Muslims within the nation, many who apply the religion discover they nonetheless face challenges within the office.

For some, there is a lack of lodging, assist and mindfulness throughout Ramadan, one of many holiest months within the Islamic calendar, when these fasting don’t eat or drink something between daybreak and sundown.

Others face difficulties when stepping away for prayers 5 occasions a day, a cornerstone of the faith.

“Islamophobia, anti-Islamism and just sort of anti-Muslim sentiments generally just seem to be somewhat left out of the broader diversity, equity (and) inclusion conversation within many workplaces,” mentioned Sarah Saska, co-founder and chief government of consultancy Feminuity.

She thinks firms do not make spiritual points as a lot of a precedence as gender as a result of companies and governments function round Christian-centric calendars. That means employees have day without work for Christmas and Easter,however not Ramadan or different spiritual holidays.

“Organizations tend to plan for something like Christmas six, five, four months in advance, but we’ve certainly noticed a number of organizations asking us just this week, ‘What can we do (for Ramadan)?”‘ Saska mentioned.

Ramadan and different holidays not on the Christian calendar aren’t regarded as far prematurely partly due to the dearth of variety inside government ranks.

“Even with the boards that I sit on, a lot of folks have never interacted with someone who wears a hijab, let alone someone who is going to be fasting for the whole month of Ramadan,” mentioned Waseem.

“If those voices are absent, then no one’s going to remember to have that conversation until it’s a few weeks or a week away.”

The office lodging Muslims want fluctuate based mostly on how people apply Islam and deal with fasting, mentioned Waqqas Shafique, director of monetary sustainability and fundraising on the Muslim Association of Canada.

However, flexibility and understanding are key for many.

“The vast majority are usually a little tired in the morning because the nights are a little longeror they might use their lunch hour to find a quiet space to take some rest,” he mentioned.

However, distant and hybrid working preparations spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic together with spiritual protections within the Canadian Human Rights Act have made it simpler for Muslims and employers to “find the happy medium.”

“We haven’t heard many complaints,” Shafique mentioned.

He, Waseem and Saska agree that firms contemplating methods to greatest assist employees of each religion ought to start by educating themselves on the demographics of their workforce and the way they apply faith.

Saska encourages companies to then take what they’ve discovered and apply it to all their insurance policies, so efforts to assist their workforce transcend a imprecise mission assertion about variety normally.

One “really quick and obvious” manner firms can assist employees is by providing extra flexibility round workforce conferences, working hours and deadlines, she mentioned.

Multi-faith rooms are additionally essential, mentioned Waseem.

“I can go down to my (employer’s) prayer room, pray for about five, six minutes and then be able to return to my regularly programmed scheduling,” she mentioned.

Offering area for spiritual rituals was a precedence when Intuit lately moved from a Mississauga, Ont. workplace with a “makeshift” prayer room that “wasn’t terribly nice” in its former workplace, mentioned David Marquis, vice-president and Canada nation supervisor.

At its new downtown workplace within the smooth Well constructing, the monetary software program firm’s nineteenth ground prayer areas are a focus. In addition to sprawling views, there are washing stations, separate areas for women and men and a provide of prayer mats.

Members of the Intuit Muslim Awareness Network, one in all 14 employee-led teams, had been “so touched,” once they first visited the area.

“One of them told me that they cried … because it was just so clear the thoughtfulness that had gone into it,” Marquis mentioned.

Aside from prayer rooms, Intuit hosts a month of Ramadan-centric actions meant to show employees about Islamic rituals and methods to be aware of practising colleagues.

The spotlight is a world day of fasting, the place employees of all faiths be a part of Muslim colleagues in going with out meals or water.

Participating was “a real eye-opener” for Marquis, who encourages different companies to interact with employees about methods to accommodate all religions.

“If there’s visible support from the top down and … employees are engaged, leadership shows support, your culture benefits enormously.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 29, 2023.