Excellent! Finally some forward motion.

I don't see anything like this happening here either. I would say the majority of the population here is Christian and to take a day off for a pagan holiday, would be seen as calling in sick with no doctor excuse. The absence would still be counted towards your sick days count or against vacation you have accumulated. Actually to be honest, if a person would want to take the day off for observation, it would be best to use another reason for the day off around here. Otherwise you may deal with some kind of discrimination. That's sad to say, but it's most likely true. My opinion is the less the people you work with know about you, is sometimes better. I don't get real close to those I work with in an office building anyway, when you tell everyone your life story, it eventually turns into office gossip. I've learned this one from experience. So, when it comes to religion or politics, I don't discuss my beliefs or opinions on those topics in the work place.