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Have you ever wondered how working for the UN might affect your ability to celebrate your favorite holidays? Do you get Christmas off? What about Eid? Diwali?

Here's how the UN approaches this for their international workforce:

🌐 UN-mandated holidays — there are 8 of them, set by the General Assembly and apply to everyone, regardless of your duty station. They include New Year's Day, days around some Christian and Muslim holidays, as well as a couple of secular holidays, like UN Day on 24 October.

🗺️ Local holidays — duty stations also observe major national or cultural days significant to their location. UN staff observe 10 holidays in total every year, which means you don't get all local holidays off.

🔄 Flexibility (sometimes, not a promise!) — some duty stations allow you to swap a holiday that doesn’t hold meaning for you. So you might work during Christmas and take time off on a day of more personal significance instead. 

UN staff also get a fair number of annual leave days per year, so there is the option to take time off to honor what matters most to you, even if your office doesn't close down.

If you have a question about seemingly small stuff, such as time off for holidays, click here and let me know. If you're wondering about it, chances are others are curious too 👀