Part of our diversity, inclusion, and belonging assessment included looking at our internal policies and practices. One area of improvement that we immediately identified was our holiday schedule. We realized our company-wide paid holidays should include more culturally diverse observances; this realization first came when we made the decision to close our office for Juneteenth earlier this year. 


TLDR;

  • We reevaluated our holiday schedule to incorporate more culturally diverse observances
  • Our employees helped us determine which holidays to observe through a company-wide survey
  • Based on survey feedback, will be providing paid time off for Rosh Hashanah and Diwali in 2021
  • We plan to rotate our holiday schedule so we can commemorate 2 new cultural celebrations each year


Holler’s Current Paid Holiday Calendar


  • New Year's Day
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • Presidents' Day
  • Friday before Memorial Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Juneteenth (added in June of 2020)
  • Independence Day
  • Friday before Labor Day
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving
  • Day after Thanksgiving
  • Christmas


Revamping our Holiday Schedule with an Employee Survey 


As a first step in editing our holiday schedule, we identified two paid holidays that were “nice to have” but were not supporting furthering a sense of diversity and inclusion - the Friday before Memorial Day and the Friday before Labor Day. We made the easy decision to remove those holidays and replace them with other days that better celebrate the diversity of our employee base and provide opportunities for education. 


In order to decide which days to add to our holiday calendar, we surveyed our employees to hear what cultural holidays were most important to them. Like our employee base, we received a diverse list of recommendations. Our survey was a simple Google form asking each employee to provide up to three holidays that they would MOST like to see Holler celebrate in the future. 


Making a Pivot to Improve Feedback


This initial survey approach solicited a lot of requests, some of which were not what we were looking for like “the week off between Christmas and New Year’s Day,” “Superbowl Monday,” and “Summer Fridays.” If you are considering this survey approach with your company, we would recommend clarifying upfront that you’re looking for cultural holidays that the team can learn from. We choose to clarify in the reminder, which is included below. 


“Thanks to all those that have already provided feedback. If you've yet to provide feedback, we are specifically looking for recommendations on holidays we can offer that promote diversity, inclusion and belonging in the company. Summer Fridays, Super Bowl Monday, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day are not being considered given they do not promote our DIB agenda. Holidays like Diwali, Rosh Hashanah, Easter Monday, Ramadan, etc. are what we are looking for.”


Introducing New Cultural Holidays at Holler


Based on the popularity of requests received, we decided we will offer the first day of Rosh Hashanah* and Diwali as paid holidays in 2021.


Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year celebration held on the first day of Tishri in September. It incorporates the blowing of the shofar, which begins the ten days of penitence leading up to Yom Kippur.


Diwali is the Indian Festival of Lights celebrated during the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. A popular Hindu celebration, it represents the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. 


We also decided that instead of just giving employees the day off, we will provide programming on these holidays, and others, giving individuals the opportunity to learn about other cultures, the importance of the holiday, and the history of it. We intend to offer not only programming, but an in-office celebration (if the world allows!) in the days leading up to the holiday. 


Our Revised 2021 Holiday Calendar


  • New Year's Day
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • Presidents' Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Juneteenth
  • Independence Day
  • Labor Day
  • Rosh Hashanah
  • Diwali
  • Thanksgiving
  • Day after Thanksgiving
  • Christmas


The Next Step


We took our holiday reevaluation a step further and will be closing the Holler office for two additional days in 2021. These won’t be paid holidays, but rather days dedicated to learning or volunteering in our community with a focus on our diversity, inclusion, and belonging efforts. 


We look forward to implementing these positive changes in 2021 and beyond. In order to celebrate a mixture of cultural holidays, we plan to rotate our holiday schedule each year. 


*for 2021 the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Labor Day so we will instead offer the second day of Rosh Hashanah off, which is Tuesday, September 7th