September DEI Observances
And just like that September is here! Along with the change in weather for some, this new month brings more celebrations, notable holidays and significant days of observance for many individuals on your teams.
Want to stay on top of the monthly observances?
List of DEI Observances in September 2024
September 2 Labor Day is a statutory holiday that has been celebrated and observed in the USA and Canada since 1894, birthed from the struggles of working people and the demand for fairness– something that is a struggle today amongst racialized folks and marginalized communities.
📅Looking for a Labor Day communications template to share with your team?
September 10 World Suicide Prevention Day provides an opportunity for us to increase our awareness and understanding about suicide. The goal of this day is to create a movement toward preventative action, creating awareness and meaningful conversations within work teams not only about the importance of maintaining a psychologically safe workplace but also about difficult subjects such as suicide.
📅Looking for a World Suicide Prevention Day communications template to share with your team?
September 15 to October 15 Hispanic Heritage Month started out as “Hispanic Heritage Week” in 1968, and this celebration has expanded to a month-long event every year. Organizations across America and Canada recognize the contributions of the Hispanic community.
📅Looking for a Hispanic Heritage Month communications template to share with your team?
📣Check out our Hispanic Heritage Month Training for your workplace!
September 15 - 16 Mawlid al-Nabi is celebrated on September 26-27 and is a special day celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Along with Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, Mawlid is one of the most essential celebrations amid Muslims.
September 18 International Equal Pay Day began in 2019 in solidarity with the wage gap between men and women due to gender inequality. It is a day of awareness to recognize that this is still ongoing across industries and work sectors.
📅Looking for an International Equal Pay Day communications template to share with your team?
September 23 Bi Visibility Day has been observed since 1993 and its goal is to accelerate the acceptance of bisexual identifying individuals, strengthen connections between members of the bisexual community and call attention to the biphobia stigma that continues to harm this community.
📅Looking for a Bi Visibility Day communications template to share with your team?
September 23 International Day of Sign Languages was first observed in 2018 as a part of acknowledging the International Week of the Deaf. The choice of 23 September commemorates the date that the WFD was established in 1951– the birth of this advocacy organization has been crucial to the preservation of sign languages and deaf culture as pre-requisites to the realization of human rights of deaf people.
📅Looking for an International Day of Sign Languages communications template to share with your team?
September 30🍁 National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day are a part of Truth and Reconciliation Week. The annual observance was established in June of 2021 by the Government of Canada to commemorate the history and intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. This opens the door to a global conversation on all aspects of Residential Schools. It is an opportunity to create meaningful discussion about the effects of Residential Schools and the impact they have left behind.
📅Looking for a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation communications template to share with your team?
📣Check out our Truth & Reconciliation Training for your workplace!
Get started with free DEI resources
DEI Survey • Land Acknowledgement • DEI Commitment Statement • DEI Policy • DEI Observance Calendar
How to Acknowledge September DEI Observances in the Workplace
Below are some points to consider when looking to incorporate, celebrate or observe dates throughout the year to support the inclusion and education of your community and teams.
Know your Workplace: Knowing your employees and showing them a genuine appreciation for them and their interests, needs, and wants will build a sense of trust within your company. The best way to do this? Ask! Learn to foster communications amongst your team to get to know the individuals you work with daily and ask them directly what they observe or celebrate and if they’d like that to be observed across the workplace. Keep your questions appropriate and allow your team the opportunity. Also, bear in mind not all employees are interested in celebrating their culture or identity openly, so never assume.
Floating Holiday: A floating holiday is when employees can take a paid day off during any time of the year. Floating holidays help to promote diversity and inclusion within the company, increase employee satisfaction, and provide employees with the opportunity for flexibility. Consider offering floating holidays during the year as part of your paid holiday schedule. Doing so can boost morale among employees and be more inclusive of the variety of cultures in the workplace.
Announcements Via Work Communications: Consider incorporating a monthly message about different observances coming up–including individuals whose identities or cultures it may be the opportunity to provide input (should be optional for them!) Ensure the message indicates that the company either: supports those that observe the religious holiday and recognize the importance of diversity in the workplace (i.e. Raksha Bandhan, Onam), or recognizes the importance of cultural observance and the need for continued awareness and education (i.e. International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples)
Optional Participation: Make participation optional! Celebrating with employees is an enjoyable bonding experience. That being said, it’s important to respect the fact that some employees may not want to participate in the celebration. They may feel overwhelmed or emotional, and that’s okay. Whatever the reason, allow them to choose whether or not they would like to participate.
An Educational Approach: Engaging employees with educational material is an excellent way to respectfully acknowledge an observance and open the door to a constructive conversation. When learning about a culture, religion or event, you expand your window of tolerance and adopt a more inclusive mindset.
Give Back: Depending on the observance, it may be appropriate to give back to the community you are acknowledging. For example, for Truth and Reconciliation Week engage with the Indigenous community members on your team or in your community and ask them how you can give back to their community. It is important to avoid making assumptions about communities that you are not a part of.
