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You may be required by federal and state laws to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs. Failing to do so may be considered illegal employment discrimination against that worker due to their religion as a partnership dispute lawyer can share. A recent Supreme Court decision may require you to incur a fair amount of cost or disruption to accommodate their beliefs.
Who Does The Law Protect?
In the abstract, practically everyone. Under federal law, you must accommodate an employee with sincere religious, ethical, or moral beliefs. That can cover someone from a traditional religion like Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, or Sikhism. It also involves those with uncommon beliefs or those without religious beliefs. Anti-discrimination laws cover job applicants and existing employees.
What Should I Do If Someone Asks For A Religious Accommodation?
You should be open-minded and avoid assumptions about the person, their religion, or practices. Review each request individually. You may need to make an exception to an established policy or rule to comply with the law as our friends at Focus Law LA can share.
Discuss the issue with the employee and why the request is important. If they need a schedule change to attend services, determine if some alternate times or days won’t impact work. Find out if the change will be required for specific holidays or if it will be an ongoing issue.
What Am I Required To Do?
Under federal and possibly state law, you must reasonably and effectively accommodate your employees’ sincerely held religious, spiritual, or ethical beliefs unless doing so presents an undue burden. That effective accommodation meets the employee’s needs, but it may not necessarily be what the employee asks for.
The US Supreme Court ruled last year that an undue burden means you can reject the accommodation only if it presents a substantial burden to your business in light of the nature, size, and cost of the accommodation.
How Might Accommodating One Employee Impact The Workforce?
If you accommodate that person, if the accommodation imposes unequal terms and conditions of employment upon those of other religions or who have no religious beliefs, you could face discrimination claims by them.
If you make changes to accommodate Employee A and their B religion but don’t make similar accommodations to Employee C and their D religion, you could face a discrimination claim because they belong to D, not B religion.
If it reaches the point where people with no religious beliefs are subject to unequal terms and conditions of employment, and they suffer an adverse employment action, they may claim you broke the law because they’re not religious, while those who are enjoying better working conditions.
What Should I Do If I Encounter This Situation?
As you can see, depending on the situation, you may face legal action by one employee or another if you take one course of action or another. You may be in a no-win situation, so consulting with an attorney familiar with employment law may help you thread this needle. With the help of expert advice, your chances of being accused of employment discrimination may be reduced as much as possible.
