We are in NC and want to give our employees a day off for their birthday. Some religions do not celebrate birthdays so we would like to give them a floating holiday after one year of employment with us. Do we have to pay this floating holiday to them if

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We are in NC and want to give our employees a day off for their birthday. Some religions do not celebrate birthdays so we would like to give them a floating holiday after one year of employment with us. Do we have to pay this floating holiday to them if

We are in NC and want to give our employees a day off for their birthday. Some religions do not celebrate birthdays so we would like to give them a floating holiday after one year of employment with us. Do we have to pay this floating holiday to them if they leave/terminated from the company after a year?

Asked on May 9, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, North Carolina

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

If you pay out birthdays off even if the employee quits, then you'd need to pay the "religious floating holiday" so as to avoid engaging in religious discrimination: that is, employees need to be treated the same regardless of religion. But if you don't pay nonreligious employees for their birthday day off if they leave, you would not have to pay the religious employees. Just make sure to treat everyone the same.


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