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Welcome to April

Posted on March 21, 2022

The month kicks off with April Fools’ Day. The day’s origin is shrouded in mystery but many point to calendar reformation by Pope Gregory in the 1500’s to create the calendar we use today. Previously, the new year occurred in April, not January as it does now. The theory is that those who continued to celebrate the new year on April 1st were called Poisson d’Avril (April fish) and pranks would be played on them.

Patriot’s Day

 

Occurs on the third  Monday of April (April 18 this year) commemorating the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy (now Arlington) with celebrations including battle reenactments.  Patriots’ Day was proclaimed in Massachusetts in 1894. Since 1969, it has been observed on the third Monday in April in Massachusetts and in Maine.  

The holiday is also associated with the running of the Boston Marathon which began back in 1897.

Religious holidays

April also contains many religious holidays this year.

April 2 marks the beginning of the Muslim holiday Ramadan which continues for a month until May 2.

April 15 marks two religious holidays this year. One is Good Friday, which is celebrated by Catholics on the Friday before Easter. There are multiple websites available detailing the history and practices of Good Friday.

April 15 also marks the Jewish holiday Passover.

Sunday, April 17 marks Easter Sunday.

Given the importance of these faith-based holidays, employers may face religious-based reasonable accommodation requests during the month of April. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website contains a great deal of useful guidance to help employers respond to faith-based reasonable accommodation requests. Some useful links are included below.

https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/small-business/religious-accommodations-tips

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/what-you-should-know-workplace-religious-accommodation

Massachusetts also has a law governing religious-based requests for time off. The law requires the employee to give the employer at least 10 days advance notice the request for the leave. It may make sense for an employer to be consistent with its other time-off requests to minimize any possible risk of allegations of disparate treatment.

National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

Each year on the fourth Thursday in April, National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day encourages parents to take their children to work.

This annual event is an educational program in the United States and Canada where parents take their children to work with them for one day. The day is designed to help children explore the workforce. It inspires children to see the different roles required to run a business or to build a project.

The day began initially as Take Your Daughters to Work Day in 1993 and expanded to include boys in 2003.

See you in May!