During the holidays, religion can become a topic of discussion between employers and employees when they are needing to take time off for their beliefs or practices. Both employers and employees should be aware of EEOC laws surrounding religious discrimination and rights.

Work Situations

When it comes to every aspect of employment, the law forbids discrimination. This includes hiring, firing, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other conditions of employment..

Harassment

This should be more common sense, but in the workplace it is also illegal to harass someone because of their religion. Harassment can include a variety of actions such as offensive remarks or anything that creates a hostile or unpleasant work environment.

Segregation

The law also prohibits workplace or job segregation based on religion. This includes assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of feared customer preference.

Reasonable Accommodation

Employers are required to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the operation of the employer’s business. An employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice his or her religion. This could be flexible scheduling, voluntary shift substitutions, job reassignments and modifications to policies or practices.

Dress and Grooming Policies

Reasonable accommodation also extends to dress and grooming. For religious purposes, if an employee wears a particular head covering or a certain hairstyle/facial hair, employers must accommodate this. It also includes an employee’s observance of a religious prohibition against wearing certain garments, such as pants.

After being made aware of these, employers should also note that they are not required to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices if doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer. This means if it is costly, compromises workplace safety, decreases workplace efficiency, infringes on the rights of other employees, or requires some employees to do more than their share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work.

This is the case when an employee is asking to take a religious holiday off. If the employer can accommodate it without undue hardship, then accommodation is necessary. However, if the accommodation would cause undue hardship, and it can be proven, the accommodation is not required.

If multiple employees ask for a holiday off, an employer should accommodate such requests in a consistent and nondiscriminatory fashion. This can be done by switching shifts, or offering other alternatives.

Businesses worried about their policies and if they violate religious discrimination laws should contact InnovaCounsel. With their knowledge of employment law, they can create and edit policies and handbooks to minimize risks and the chance of a discrimination lawsuit.