By law, you must accommodate religious expression in the workplace to the greatest extent possible. Here are some righteous ideas for handling that responsibility.
This Wednesday marks a holy occasion for two of the world’s key religions.
The Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashanah, begins at sundown, continuing with major prayers through Friday. It’s the first of the High Holy Days. The other High Holy Day, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, starts at sundown on Friday, September 21.
Wednesday is also the first day of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar. Devout Muslims fast most of the day and say special prayers. Either group may be asking you for time off for religious observance, or other accommodations to the normal routine.
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In fact, federal law protects every worker’s right to practice religion on the job. “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to provide ‘reasonable accommodations’ to employees who request time off for religious holidays unless doing so would cause an undue hardship,” says EEOC attorney Elizabeth Grossman, as reported on the website, Newsday.com.
Grossman was interviewed as part of a growing exploration of issued raised by religion in the workplace. The discussions have not always been benign. Employees have been fired or disciplined for taking time off for prayer, or even praying on the worksite, or for wearing religious garb or symbols. And employees have fired right back in the courts and through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The agency reports a 30 percent increase in charges of religious discrimination in the years 2002-2006, as compared to the five years before. In the wake of 9/11, many complaints have come from Muslims. But fundamentalist Christians have also protested denial of their desire to pray as a group, or publicly dedicate their work to Christ.
Policy, yes. But flexibility, too.
The path to avoiding conflicts, according to multiple experts, is a combination of policy and flexibility. Many employers have a policy about religious expression in their organizations, but a policy is not enough, according to attorney Brian W. Bulger, of the law firm Mecler Bulger & Tilson, as quoted on a CCH website. “While courts have not come out and said it, cases show that merely pointing to the policy may not carry the day,” he says.
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Instead, Bulger advises employers to talk with workers about their need for accommodation as they would talk with persons with disabilities about what they need to meet their special needs while getting the job done. “While judges might not be very familiar with religious accommodation,” he says, “they will be familiar with the interactive process under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.)
“Be in a position to tell the judge that you’ve done everything required for accommodation under ADA,” Bolger declares, “even though the duty to accommodate religion is narrower.”
His sentiments are echoed by Rick Liebman, an employment attorney in Portland, Oregon, quoted in the Seattle Times .. “I tell employers to go the furthest step a reasonable person would ask you to go and then go one step further—and you’ll win,” Liebman says.
Be that as it may, experts agree that the proper handling of religious issues in the workplace does start with policy. Recently our sister BLR newsletter, Best Practices in HR, published a checklist of issues that policy should address.
We’ll tell you what they are in the next HR Daily Advisor.