By Rayhan Abdullah Zakaria FHEA, MCIPD, AIHSCM, Doctoral Researcher at the University of Chester Business School

According to the 2021 census, there are nearly 4 million Muslims in England and Wales, with Islam being the second largest religion in England and Wales. This means you are highly likely to have a Muslim colleague/employee working within the health and social care sector. As you may know, the holy month of Ramadan is coming to an end and with it brings the festival of Eid al Fitr. In this short article I will share some of my top tips for HR, leaders, and managers to take note of and maybe implement within their teams/organisations to support all Muslim and non-Muslim staff of the organisations during the Eid celebration.

Understand what is Eid al Fitr

Eid al Fitr roughly translates – the festival of breaking the fast. It follows the end of the month of holy Ramadan. This year in the UK Eid al Fitr might be on Friday the 21st of April or Saturday the 22nd of April. The reason for the date not being fixed is that it depends on sighting the new moon crescent of Eid as the Islamic calendar is lunar. Here is the science behind the moon sighting from the University of Lincoln and here is some information about the Islamic Hijiri calendar Al Ain University

You can greet your Muslim colleagues by saying Eid Mubarak which means blessed Eid however Muslims greet each other on the day by saying “Taqabbal Allahu minna wa minkum”, which means May Allaah accept (this worship) from us and from you). It’s a day of joyous occasion and generally speaking, Muslims tend to go for the congregational Eid prayer wearing their finest Eid clothes in the morning, after which they share gifts with family and friends, eat fine food visit each other in the community as it’s a joyous occasion for everyone in the community as well. You can read in detail about what happens in the Eid celebration here or you can have a look at these photos from around the world on how Eid is celebrated

Accommodate requests for annual leave

You must have a dialogue with your Muslim colleagues about their annual leave requests as compared to leaving it to the last minute. You also need to look at resourcing as you do not want to be in a situation where a large chunk of your staff are on leave, so involve your Muslim and non-Muslim staff and draw up a fair inclusive annual leave policy which mitigates all staffing issues. Know that everyone’s need is unique so it’s better to understand your Muslim and non-Muslim staff needs so that you can take the appropriate action when it comes to annual leave requests.

Think about the cost of living crisis

It is widely acknowledged that we are living among some of the worst cost of living crisis in recent times. This means this is going to be a very expensive Eid celebration for many staff working within the care sector. Many people up and down the country are struggling to make ends meet and Eid is a time for giving and lending a helping hand to those in need. It is a perfect time to have these conversations and design a framework to bring some relief to your staff. There are many events up and down the country from buying gifts for children in need to supporting local food banks to sponsoring various events run by reputable local charitable organisations in which your organisation can paly a  part. The key point is Eid is not all about consuming but also about giving and we as leaders in organisation need to know how best we can support all our staff in this.

Set up some Eid theme celebration

Here you can have a dialogue with your Muslim colleagues and see how you can get involved with setting up a departmental Eid gathering where Muslim and non-Muslim colleagues can come together. As it is an Eid celebration it is important to pay attention to the cultural and religious needs here so be aware that Muslims do not drink alcohol and only eat halal food. Many organisations are active including Eid events in their yearly staff events. Here The NHS Muslim Network is holding their in-person Eid and learning to gather, headlined by the CEO of NHS England, as well as the Chief strategy officer of NHS England and the national director of People for NHS England. Eid is a time for people to come together so be mindful that many healthcare workers are not able to be with their families so they could end up being alone. You need to think about them and get all together, if in-person events are not possible you can often make a virtual event. Here The NHS Muslim Network is holding its virtual Eid event. If you are not able to hold a virtual event then you can sponsor many local Eid events where your staff can go and take part. There are huge gatherings taking place all over the UK cities so you can get in touch with your city’s central mosque and see how you can sponsor an event or have access for your staff to attend.

Think about the patients and care receivers

You are bound to have Muslim customers who require social and healthcare services, you could think about them too. You could explore how best you can get involved and help them during the festivities of Eid. You could start by having a dialogue with them and understand their needs so that you can better help them and make them feel belonging.

Always have an open communication channel for all staff

Having an open safe communication framework in place will help all parties and staff voice their opinions and concerns. It is imperative that everyone feels valued and listened to and opinions are respected. The leadership team need to be more visible and more engaged with the wider narrative within the organisation