If an employee tells you that a religious belief prohibits them from working on certain times or days, you usually must try to accommodate the person unless it would be an undue hardship. But what if your workers’ schedules are set by a seniority system? Do you still have to make a special accommodation for the employee’s religious requirements?
According to a new federal Court of Appeal decision, the answer is usually no. But your obligations will depend on the details of how your seniority system works.
Employee Objects To Weekend Shift
Lisette Balint was hired as a deputy for the Carson City Sheriff’s Department. When she was assigned her first Friday night shift, Balint objected. As a Worldwide Church of God member, she said she was forbidden from working during the period from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. She hadn’t mentioned this restriction in her job application.
Balint asked her department head to change her schedule, but he refused. She quit and sued the City for religious discrimination.
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Schedules Assigned By Seniority
Carson City deputy sheriffs bid for shifts based on seniority. Shifts were changed every six months, and a deputy was not permitted to bid for the same shift two times in a row.
Carson City argued that it should not have to ignore its established seniority-based bidding system to accommodate Balint’s religious beliefs, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers California, agreed.
Although you’re generally required to accommodate an employee’s religion unless it would cause undue hardship, you can continue to follow the terms of a genuine seniority or merit system unless it was established with the intent to discriminate.
In this case, because Carson City had in place a non-discriminatory seniority system for assigning shifts, the court concluded there was no duty to accommodate Balint.
When Accommodation Is Required
The court also pointed out that even if you have an established system for allocating work time, there are situations where you must still try to accommodate an employee’s re- quest for a schedule change. For example, you cannot escape accommodation obligations by relying on a seniority system that isn’t applied consistently.
Furthermore, you can’t avoid accommodating someone simply because you have a system that assigns shifts based on factors other than seniority-such as one in which schedules rotate so all employees work the same number of undesirable shifts.
Practical Strategies
Even though the employer won in this case, requests for religious accommodations should always be handled carefully. If an employee informs you of a religious scheduling conflict, offer an accommodation whenever possible-although you don’t have to accept the employee’s proposal if another option would satisfy their religious obligations and minimize inconvenience to you.
Consider voluntary schedule changes, flexible scheduling or transfers to a new position. And in general, don’t make judgments about the sincerity of an employee’s religious beliefs. Unless the situation is very unusual, the safest course is to take the employee’s word that their religion really does conflict with their job obligations.
As this case shows, however, you’re not required to give an employee preferential treatment over co-workers or impose more than a minimal burden on your other employees. Finally, if you conclude that no accommodation is appropriate, be sure to thoroughly document your reasons.