Late Coming During Month Of Ramadan

One of my employee is observing month of Ramadan. He has requested to report office late by 2 hours during this month since he has to attend prayers in the evening.
He works for our US office hence his work timings are as per the US timezone (6.30 pm to 3.30 am)
Please share inputs about the general practice to handle such situations in IT companies.
- Gia

In our company we work in general shift and our closing time is normally 6.30pm. few of our employees are granted to come early by 1/2hr in the morning and leave by 6pm.
in your case you can not extend their working time as the fasting period again start by 4am in the morning.
check with your management and grant this permission either without deduction in salary or deduct this 2 hrs for the whole month and adjust his salary accordingly....this is my personal opinion...others can also share their views...

All HR driven Organisations which are sensitive to people will allow this permission without any deduction. And this is done not only within India but also all over the world. And your US clients will also understand this, since they themselves allow the muslim employees some leverage t take time out for prayer and breaking their fast

Two hours per day for the whole month is equivalent to nearly 48 hours. How can it be fare to other worker if such workers are given time off without deduction? If people of other faith say that they are celebrating a festival, which is not declared a public holiday, will or should the organization oblige and sanction a paid holiday?

Coming two hrs late is for prayers and breaking of the fast .
You must ask the employee whether he is prepared to work for two hours extra or else you have to deduct the amount from his pay .

I searched the web to see what is the practice in the UK where over a million muslims live. I found some good material at http://mcb.org.uk <link fixed>
Here is an extract about time off for Ramadan.
"An employee working in a small corner shop asks to take a late lunch break around sunset to
break his fast. There are only two employees and the time for breaking the fast coincides with
the time when school children are coming out of school and the shop is particularly busy. It may be reasonable to refuse the request if the shop cannot cope without both staff. However, it may not be reasonable for a supermarket with a large number of staff to refuse such a request."
If I am correct, a muslim should not expect time off with pay, especially during Ramadan.

Dear Sir
Thanks for the link provided. I have downloaded and saved "the Good Practice Guide for Employers and Emploees...."
Religion is a very sensitive issue; more so for those who put it above everything else; and despite it being considered peaceful, most violent deeds are committed in a moment of anger and hatred; as anything, said or done out of ignorance, can be interpreted as dis-respect or blasphemy.
I am sure this manual will not only provide an authoritative guidelines for action by HR Managers; but shall also prove to be, literally, a life-saver.
Warm regards.

Dear All,
Greetings of the day!
I would request you to go through the government circular regarding working hours for the month of Ramadan.
In our state employees observing fasting can leave office by 3.30pm.

Please, if you can attach a copy of the circular, (or furnish a link), it would be useful for all, as a ready reference.
Warm regards.

This is indeed a sensitive issue and I believe there can't be a one size fits all solution crafted for this...
Different firms have different workforce, different culture and different trends.
In my office, about 1/4 staff is Muslims and all are observing Ramadan. We work in normal shift and our office time is 9.30 to 6.00. However, normally, these people wait back late till 7 as well in order to complete their sales target (Most of them are in sales department). Even now they wish to discount an early leave of 30 min in addition to 30 min of free time in day for Namaaz in the noon...
We have allowed them this time knowing they put in extra efforts in the rest of the days / months....