Denmark: Muslims saving Christmas
[Headline is from the original article]
Muslims gladly take work December 24th, so their Christian colleagues can stay home and celebrate Christmas, reports JydskeVestkysten.
Many medical assistants and nurses don't want to work Chrsitmas Eve, but their Muslim colleagues gladly take the unpopular shifts, according to a poll by JydskeVestkysten.
Kirsten Carlsen, manager for home care in Kolding municipality, says that she just got a Muslim employee, and she will gladly take the Christmas Eve shift. Very few institutions in Southern Jutland have enough Muslim workers to allow all Christians to take off Christmas Eve. and yet their kindness is very meaningful.
"They get a lot of recognition, because they voluntarily take the shifts others want to take off. that means a lot for collegiality," says Kirsten Carlsen.
Birgitte Stenderup, head of the Nursing and Care department at Esbejerg municipality, has the same experience with Muslim workers. She says Muslim workers are good for ensuring the residents have a pleasant time on Christmas Eve, even if they themselves have a different faith. And they can take time off on other times, when they prefer to avoid working.
Sune Lægaard a multiculturalism researcher at Roskilde University, says that there's a trend to overlook the positive angles of culture diversity in the workplace. "the problems take up a lot of space in the debate, but Christmas Eve shifts are a tangible example of how diversity in the workplaces is often an advantage."
The poll showed that Jehovah's Witnesses and Hindus also volunteered to take over Christmas shifts.Source: BT (Danish), h/t Uriasposten
