Leave for Muslim festivals: Eid and working life

Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are the two great festivals of the Muslim year. In most European countries they are not public holidays, and their dates, which follow the lunar calendar, move forward by around ten days each year. As a result, many employees who want to attend the Eid prayer and spend the day with family have to book leave, sometimes at the last minute.

This guide explains how leave works in this context, what an employer can accept or refuse, and how to organise yourself so as to reconcile religious festivals with working life without needless conflict.

The festivals concerned and their calendar

The two main festivals are Eid al-Fitr, which closes the month of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, at the time of the pilgrimage. Some families also mark other dates (Ashura, the Islamic New Year, Mawlid), but it is mainly the two Eids that lead to requests for time off.

The difficulty lies in the uncertainty: depending on the method used (sighting of the crescent moon or astronomical calculation), the date can differ by a day from one mosque to another and may only be confirmed the evening before. It is therefore wise to plan for two possible dates and tell your employer from the outset.

Private sector: ordinary leave that you must request

In France, Muslim festivals are not on the list of public holidays in the Labour Code, and there is no general right to time off for a religious festival in the private sector. The same is true in the UK, where there is no statutory right to leave for religious festivals. Employees can, however, use their usual tools:

• paid annual leave, the timing of which the employer sets and may accept or refuse according to business needs;
• days off under working-time reduction schemes or time off in lieu, where an agreement provides for them;
• unpaid leave, which requires the employer's agreement;
• swapping a day with a colleague, in jobs organised on a rota.

Some collective agreements or company agreements provide "floating" days or diversity schemes, so they are worth checking. A refusal must be based on organisational reasons; refusing leave solely because it is requested for a Muslim festival, when a comparable request would have been granted for another reason, may amount to discrimination.

French civil service: authorised absences are possible

In the French civil service, a ministerial instruction allows heads of department to grant authorised absences to staff who wish to take part in the main festivals of their religion, including Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. This is not an automatic right: authorisation is granted subject to the needs of the service. The request must therefore be made in advance, following internal procedure. The neutrality principles that apply to public servants are presented on the page about employment law and religion.

Elsewhere in Europe and around the world

Practices vary widely. In several European countries, collective agreements or company policies allow employees to swap a Christian public holiday for a festival of another religion; elsewhere, only ordinary leave is possible. In Muslim-majority countries, the two Eids are generally public holidays lasting several days. For people working abroad, our guide to working abroad as a French speaker looks at these calendar differences.

Wording your request well

The right moment

Ideally, ask as soon as the annual leave planner opens, then remind your manager a few weeks beforehand. For Eid al-Fitr, you can write "Eid day, expected on X or X+1, to be confirmed the evening before".

The right tone

A short, factual request works better than a long justification. Offering a continuity plan (file prepared, colleague briefed, shift swapped) shows that you are taking the team's constraints into account.

If the request is refused

It is useful to ask for the reason, then consider an alternative: the Eid prayer early in the morning followed by a later start, a half day, or a swap with a colleague. If the refusal seems to be motivated by religion, the steps to take are explained on our page about religious discrimination at work.

What scholars say

Most schools of law regard the Eid prayer as a strongly recommended sunna, and some scholars consider it obligatory. The most widespread view is that one should not put one's job or contractual commitments at risk for a supererogatory practice, and that honouring one's commitments is also part of Islamic ethics. For a specific situation, it is still best to consult a qualified scholar.

Practical checklist for the festivals

• note the likely periods of both Eids at the start of the year;
• check your collective agreement and any agreements on floating days;
• submit your request early, giving two possible dates;
• prepare a continuity plan for the team;
• keep a written record of the request and the reply;
• in the French civil service, follow the authorised-absence procedure.

For the period leading up to the festival, the adjustments available during the month of fasting are set out in our guide to Ramadan in the workplace.