Employer Must Accommodate an Employee’s Religious Beliefs
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- Published on Sunday, 29 January 2012 21:22
The law requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause the employer an undue hardship, specifically, cause more than a minimal burden on the employer’s operations. This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment in order to allow employees to practice their religion. Some common religious accommodations include flexible scheduling, voluntary shift substitutions or swaps, job reassignments, modifications to workplace policies or practices, and accommodating an employee’s grooming practices related to their religious beliefs. In terms of grooming practices, this might include, for example, permitting the employee to wear a particular head covering or other religious dress (such as a Jewish yarmulke or a Muslim headscarf), or wearing certain hairstyles or facial hair (such as Rastafarian dreadlocks or Sikh uncut hair and beard). It could also include an employee's observance of a religious belief that prohibits wearing certain garments (such as pants or miniskirts). When an employee needs a grooming accommodation for religious reasons, the employee should provide notice to the employer that he or she needs such an accommodation for religious reasons. If the employer reasonably needs more information to determine whether or not the accommodation can be granted, the employer and the employee should engage in an interactive process to discuss the request. If the accommodation would not pose an undue hardship on the employer, it must be granted.
However, as noted above, an employer does not have to provide a religiously based accommodation unless doing so would pose an undue hardship on the employer. Whether a particular accommodation may cause undue hardship on the employer depends on numerous factors including whether the accommodation is: (1) too costly; (2) compromises workplace safety; (3) decreases workplace efficiency; (4) infringes on the rights of other employees; (5) requires that other employees to do more than their share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work.
A recent case filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC), serves as a reminder that employers must not discriminate against an employee by failing to grant a religiously based accommodation, provided it does not pose an undue burden on the employer. In this case, the EEOC alleges that Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation, an electric power supplier, violated the law by terminating an employee who was a Jehovah’s Witnesses, and who had requested a day off to attend a religious convention. Katharine W. Kores, district director for the EEOC, commented on the case noting that “This employee’s request was so modest and minor it is astounding the company not only refused it, but also fired her…Employees should never be forced to choose between their religion and their job.” Read More.