A Washington state law designed to give public employees unpaid time off for religious reasons is so ambiguous that it could be used to take a day off next month to celebrate Festivus, according to Seattle's KING 5 News.
Festivus is the Dec. 23 holiday from a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode centered around a pole and a ceremony known as the airing of grievances.
In Washington, Christmas is already a state holiday. The new law was created to give people of other faiths a chance for their own holiday time -- but since it doesn't define religion, there's no way to stop workers from using it to celebrate Festivus or any other holiday.
And some short-staffed city managers have a big problem with that.
KING 5 reports that while the days off are unpaid, hiring people to replace those workers will cost money. They're also worried about people abusing the law with last-minute "religious" holidays.
The station said the law may be reworked to simply become two unpaid floating holidays that would have to be scheduled weeks or months in advance.
But since Festivus is always Dec. 23 -- and a growing number of people are celebrating it for real -- it sounds like the law could still allow for a day off for the airing of grievances and feats of strength.
It's a Festivus miracle.
(h/t Raw Story)
Festivus is the Dec. 23 holiday from a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode centered around a pole and a ceremony known as the airing of grievances.
In Washington, Christmas is already a state holiday. The new law was created to give people of other faiths a chance for their own holiday time -- but since it doesn't define religion, there's no way to stop workers from using it to celebrate Festivus or any other holiday.
And some short-staffed city managers have a big problem with that.
KING 5 reports that while the days off are unpaid, hiring people to replace those workers will cost money. They're also worried about people abusing the law with last-minute "religious" holidays.
The station said the law may be reworked to simply become two unpaid floating holidays that would have to be scheduled weeks or months in advance.
But since Festivus is always Dec. 23 -- and a growing number of people are celebrating it for real -- it sounds like the law could still allow for a day off for the airing of grievances and feats of strength.
It's a Festivus miracle.
(h/t Raw Story)
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