Employee Absences for Religious Holidays

Excused absences for observance of religious holidays are permitted for faculty, academic professional and administrative (P&A), civil service, graduate assistant, and student employees. Requests to be away from work to participate in such observances should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the proposed absence. Responsible administrators/supervisors will make reasonable accommodations for an employee’s time away from work for this purpose to the extent practical in the consideration of business needs. Planned absences for such requests may be taken as either paid vacation leave, if applicable; as time off without pay; or with equivalent time worked at a time and manner agreed upon by the employee and the responsible administrator/supervisor.

Excluded from coverage under this policy are union-represented faculty and staff employees whose rights are governed by collective bargaining agreements. Student absences from class are covered under educational policies.

Excused absence from work to participate in religious observances is provided by the University of Minnesota in support of employee well-being.

There are no procedures for this policy.

There are no forms for this policy.

Subject	Contact	Phone	Fax/Email
General Information or Procedural Assistance for Employees	Primary: Responsible administrator/supervisor Secondary: Local campus, college, or administrative unit HR administrator Other (as needed): Office of Human Resources specialist or consultant	Office of Human Resources Specialist and Consultant List	Office of Human Resources Specialist and Consultant List
Document Processing for Employees	HRMS Key Contact Office of Human Resources Call Center	HRMS Key Contact List 612-625-2016	HRMS Key Contact List

There are no Definitions associated with this policy.

Employee

• Requests approval to be away from work to participate in observance of a religious holiday at least two weeks prior to the proposed absence; request is to include proposal for how the time away would be taken (e.g., vacation leave, equivalent time worked).

Responsible Administrator/Supervisor

• Decides on approval of employee’s request to be absent from work to participate in the observance of a religious holiday(s).
• Ensures documentation of absence, as appropriate.

Vice President, Human Resources

• Reminds University employees annually of the policy in an e-mail communication.

There are no appendices for this policy.

There is no FAQ for this policy.

• Administrative Policy: Mandatory Attendance at First Class Session and Consequences for Absence: Twin Cities, Morris, Rochester
• Administrative Policy: Teaching and Learning: Student Responsibilities (Twin Cities, Morris, Rochester)
• Religious Holiday Calendar

Amended:

November 2008 - Policy revised to cover only employee and not student absences for religious holidays. Student absences for this purpose are covered under educational policies. In addition, the eligibility criterion requiring an appointment of 12-months for faculty, P&A, and civil service employees was eliminated. Graduate assistants and student employees were noted as covered under this policy.

Amended:

December 2007 - Policy converted to the new University-wide format for administrative policies and incorporated current practice language.

Amended:

September 2007

Adopted:

December 1994 - Policy covered both student and employee absences for religious holidays.

Effective:

April 2009