From piercings to tongue studs to revealing clothing, today’s workplace is a hotbed of cultural and generational challenges. And many of the conflicts are tied to safety issues. In today’s Advisor, we’ll tell you how EEOC helps to sort it all out.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) take on safety and religion was recently outlined in an online forum sponsored by SHRM and reported on in our sister print publication, the HR Manager’s Legal Reporter.
This issue of religious accommodation and safety has two components: First, the legitimacy of the claimed religious belief, and second, the issue of safety vs. religious garb. Here are the EEOC’s answers to questions on this issue.
Q: What constitutes a legitimate religious/cultural belief? Can the employer question the belief?
EEOC: If an employer has a reasonable basis for questioning either the religious nature or the sincerity of a particular belief or practice, it would be justified in seeking additional information from the employee.
The question of whether a particular belief is or is not religious in nature is one that employers normally will not want to address. However, there may be situations in which the employer reasonably either questions the sincerity of the particular belief or whether it is, in fact, religious in nature. Some courts have held that beliefs that do not focus on right or wrong or humankind’s place in the universe and are only about unidimensional characteristics are not religious in nature.
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Q: Does religious conviction trump employee safety?
EEOC: While religious needs should be accommodated, employers should not compromise legitimate safety concerns. For example, in one case, the court held that the employer legitimately refused the request of a machine operator to wear her traditional religious dress where there was a genuine safety risk that her garments would get caught in the machine.
In the Commission’s view, the employer’s mere preference or customer preference is not a legitimate basis for denying a religious accommodation request; however, safety concerns can be a legitimate basis.
Q: Can you ask whether an item of clothing or a beard is for religious reasons in the interview stage?
EEOC: It is probably ill-advised, because if the applicant is not selected, the fact that the employer asked this question in the interview may be used as evidence of bias.
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Q: What about hairstyles, and dreadlocks in particular?
EEOC: The analysis is the same as for clothing. The question is whether it would be an undue hardship; e.g., a safety risk, for the employer to allow dreadlocks for religious reasons.
The bottom line?
You are generally going to have to accommodate religious garb requests unless there is a safety issue, in which case the genuine safety concerns will generally rise to the level of undue hardship and allow you to deny the request for accommodation.
In the next Advisor, more on this topic, and an introduction to a policy program that will help you with all your dress code and other important policies.