Flexible Time Away from Work
In addition to your vacation and sick leave policies, create and adopt a policy that accommodates an employee’s religious, spiritual, and personal health commitments.
The policy can offer paid or unpaid leave and must be offered at any time of the year regardless of operations if the employee meets the eligibility criteria.
Why this Commitment?
Some statutory holidays in Alberta are rooted in Christian traditions and do not correspond to dates of cultural and religious significance for all Bow Valley locals. Adopting a flexible time off policy welcomes and includes team members of all beliefs, backgrounds, and traditions.
In addition to faith-based dates, employees may require flexible days off to support their mental and physical health. This may include bereavement, illness, immediate family member support, or personal mental health. Your team may also benefit from considerations of diverse cultural traditions and practices that may or may not relate to religious belief.
If an employee is eligible, time away from work requests may be required during peak operational times which is why this policy needs to be differentiated from operational vacation and/or sick policies. While this policy intersects with human rights legislation and unpaid job protected leaves, adopting a flexible and inclusive time off company policy creates a clear, barrier free, and confidential path for employees to take time off when they require.
Evaluation Plan
To complete this commitment, submit the following by December 31, 2023 to karli@bllha.ca:
Electronic copy of the policy.
Note: We recognize that some companies may have existing time-off polices that only need to be amended to meet this commitment’s criteria.
Copy of communication used to communicate this new policy to employees with the effective date
Section of your employee handbook referencing this policy
In January 2024, we will:
Review the policy to ensure that it accounts for faith and culturally significant days and other flexible days off outside of vacation and physical illness or injury.
Ensure the employee communication of the new policy (or existing policy update) came into effect before December 31, 2023.
Resources
Protected areas and grounds under the Alberta Human Rights Act
Template: Flexible Time Away from Work Policy
Note: This policy offers different implementation options. Employers are encouraged to use this as a template only and integrate their own existing human resources policies, payroll polices and company values before implementing. Employers must understand human rights and privacy legislation to ethically execute this policy properly.Case studies in religious inclusion:
Supporting Organization: Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association (BLLHA)
For support with this commitment, contact:
Karli Fleury, CPHR, PCP
Director of Workforce & Communications
Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association
karli@bllha.ca
