Religion In Office

With the Ramazan season approaching we have a couple of employees requesting that they be allowed to perform their prayers in office. As a policy we do not encourage any overt displays of religious practice in office. How do you deal with this?
P.S. there is no space that can be allotted that is not used by all
Thanks,
Tracy

You can give them time to pray in a mosque nearby. If this is not possible, a meeting room can be spared for them to pray as long as they do not disturb anyone else. This festival is for a period of one month and muslims are required to pray 5 times a day.
By allowing this you will be creating an inclusive culture. It will be useful to align the leadership team in your office/company that you plan to allow this as a very inclusive measure

Hi,
Pls communicate to the employees that no preferences can be given to people from any religion, as a leverage given now will get uncontrollable in future, as in India we have many religions having different types of worship processes and surely no Organisation will be in a position to manage it.
Never let religion or cast or creed enter any Organisation.
Ajithaa

RAMZAN IS VERY IMPORTENT MONTH FOR MUSLIMS THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PERFORM NAMAZ IN ANY SPACIOUS ROOM. IT WILL CREAT FAITH FOR THE GANIZATION .THAT OUR ORGANIZATION GIVES IMPORTANCE TO OUR EMOTIONS AND IT WILL SUPPORT U TO RETAIN UR EMPLOYEE IN UR ORGANIZATON.

Hi,
I do recommend the same that no religious activities inside premises. Today its Ramzan , this week end its Ganesh chadurthi next week some thing else. There is no use of this. Office space is not for this. But you need to be too polite to refuse.
Space for religion inside office shall not be permitted. If you have a mosque near by you can give them special permission or you adjust to their extra work time for what ever the time loss which happens during this festival.
Regards
Vijayakumar

Hi
I would suggest the same as others.There should not be special interest or attention towards a particular religion.We can refuse their obligation politely.
Aarthi

Hi
I was interested to know what was the practise being followed in your organization before you joined.
Obviously, festivals come very year - so find out what was being done in the past.
The suggestion of giving time off to visit the local mosque is most practical, rather than giving office space. Having said this, there are people who keep pictures of deities on their tables / softboards, which I think can be permitted.
All the best.
Regards
Ryan

Hi,
Giving time to Pray in a near by mosque is the best. But it may happen that the mosque is too far & it can take huge amount of travelling times & expense. :shock:
In this case it would be gr8 if you can, any how mange to give some small amount of space for the prayers.
Praying doesn't takes more than 10 mins & also doesn't require a big Hall or meeting room. It Just requires 4 x 2 foot space to offer the prayers.
Even some archival room or Filing room or some space in the corner can be adjusted. :idea:
Offering 5 times prayer is compulsory for the Muslims & recommended to pray in mosque but as I said due to some problem they must be requesting you.
Any way this upto the sole concern abut the company's decision but It will be very much helpful in increasing trust about the company. :)

Hi,
We had made it our company's policy not to allow any concessions for any religious practices. We strictly adhered to them and they worked very well.
My advise is, dont allow any concessions. you will find it diificult to manage.
Cyril

We have seen in many of the MNC companies allow the praying in store / electrical rooms + they even provide the space in Gym during non working timings of Gym - This encourages trust in the employees mind about the HR taking care of the employees in any condition.
Also in the earlier reply it is mentioned that it doesnt take much time (approx 10 Minutes) and 4*2 space.
Also there are big dieties sculpture kept at the entrance of many of the companies wherein they say that we dont give any preference to any of the religion.
Request is not to hurt the sentiments of any one.