 Good afternoon. My name is Peter Tredder. I am the president and chief executive officer of Journey to Diversity workplaces Welcome to the third Founders video blog entry. I Apologize that I haven't done one of these lately. Unfortunately. It's been really busy here at J2DW. So Yeah, I have unfortunately haven't had a chance. We are entering the holiday season as you can be seen behind me I've got my Christmas tree up. That is one of the traditions I celebrate and if you can't see it in the background behind me, maybe I can turn this a little bit to cease. There we go Probably not showing very well, but we've got snow That was quite unexpected for doing the video blog today, but a nice and pleasant surprise So the holidays are an interesting time of year Somebody else actually has done a blog topic on this on our website. So www.jtdw.ca But I'm gonna go into this a little bit differently, so the holidays are great I mean everybody knows everyone no matter your religious affiliation gets Christmas day off and That's all right, but what if you're not Christian? Should you be forced to take that day off and then have to take an unpaid day off for your religious holiday or use of vacation? I don't know That's one thing that's always kind of bothered me when I was in high school I knew a few people who were orthodox Christians. So their Christmas New Year's was like a week after or just around the time school started in the New Year, so It's always made me scratch my head a little bit about how we can accommodate everyone You know with without forcing them to celebrate a holiday that they're not into like I forget where I read it once but apparently Chinese restaurants do the best business on Christmas Day because Everyone and even some Christians is ordering out Because there's not much else open, right? So What do you think about this if you're watching this on YouTube? We're on our blog. Please leave a comment below And let me know what you think. I sometimes think that maybe instead we should give out X number of paid Holidays equivalents the maybe number Christian holidays plus two or three extras. I don't know Maybe that that's a possibility You know that make that way every it's fair for everyone and everyone make sure they get time off But we also have to be careful too Because you know, especially during the holidays can be really slippery So, you know talking about workplace safety You got to make sure that when you're when you're walking around and whatnot that you're not accidentally hurting yourself by slipping and Falls and stuff like that, you know, it's in the workplace. It's it's especially difficult You know, I used to work be a bank teller and so what happens in the winter But the floors get really slippery from all the snow and ice that comes in especially as it starts to melt Now we did have mats, but it's not a perfect system So long go and I imagine many waiters and waitresses do this too. I bought anti-slip shoes most regular shoe retailers sell them or boots either work But this way I knew that I was gonna be safe at work, you know Yes, it's my employer's job to make sure for the most part, you know that I'm not gonna get hurt But I have to take some initiative too. Isn't that what employers look for employees initiative? I like initiative I my number one rule when anyone approaches me with an idea is great Love it. You can go ahead and run it because It's easy to suggest something for me to do, but I'm not gonna do it half as well as the person who suggested it to me so Back to the holidays. Do you have any holiday parties you're going to or have been to? How those worked out do they keep them generic? I know some workplaces are doing holiday parties now in January So that it's not directly linked to Christmas and Boxing Day Is this a good idea? Is it a bad idea? I don't know What do you think? I think that I Don't know. I'm a big fan of Christmas myself It's not even presents. Although really when you're when you're a kid and teacher teenager probably loved the presents But for me, it's more about spending time with my family. We just had Canadian Thanksgiving in October here I got to see family then and Hopefully I'm gonna get to see family this Christmas. I need to follow up on that, but hopefully soon cross fingers You know, and it's nice break from everything else you have going on whether it's volunteering or a paid job As an aside, we are still looking for volunteers for journey to diversity website Workplaces visit our website www.jtdw.ca Volunteer to find out more and there's a form you can fill out and we'll get back to you ASAP We're looking for bloggers editors board members People who to help with the books or serve on a committee all sorts of things So, you know, let us know what you'd like to do We can we I try and accommodate everyone who puts in a request That's all the time I have for today. Thank you so much for joining us And I wish you a very happy holiday and all the best for 2017 Visit us online at www.jtdw.ca and make sure you tweet us with hashtag J2DW have an amazing day