Religious Discrimination in the Workplace

Posted in: Data Correlations, Demographics, Race/Ethnicity, Workforce Diversity
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After Sept. 11, 2001, complaints of religious discrimination in the workplace skyrocketed, tripling in one year -- from 9.7 percent of all discrimination complaints in 2000 to 20.9 percent in 2001. The majority of those complaints, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), were made by Muslims, but members of many religious groups, as well as agnostics and atheists, have felt the sting of religious workplace discrimination and sought legal action.

In 2007, there were 3,790 religious-discrimination charges filed with the EEOC, leading to the recovery of $6.4 million for claimants. The number of charges has since grown to 3,790 in 2010, and charges for 2011 are projected to reach more than 4,000, according to EEOC preliminary data.

How can you ensure that your workplace is legally compliant and does not create an atmosphere that is conducive to potential lawsuits? In a DiversityInc webinar, attorney John Bryson of the Corporate Diversity Counseling Group of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP offered legal advice. For other webinars on diversity best practices, visit our webinar library.

Here is his advice, augmented by information supplied by the EEOC:

Where's the Law?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 'prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment. Title VII covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government.'

Specifically, employers:

  • Cannot treat employees differently because of religious beliefs or lack thereof
  • Cannot force employees to participate–or not participate–in a religious activity as a condition of employment
  • Must reasonably accommodate religious beliefs and practices unless doing so would constitute an undue hardship on the employer
  • Must take steps to prevent religious harassment of employees

Under EEOC guidelines, 'religious practice' includes 'moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views.' These 'views' need not be part of a formal religion.

With these rules, however, the employer does have certain prerogatives. The employer is not required to accept the employee's preferred accommodation or develop an 'undue number of potential accommodations.' The employer can offer an alternative that 'least disadvantages the individual' and the employer (and courts have backed this up) need not bear an unfair cost for these accommodations.

What Are the Most Common Accommodation Requests?

The Davis Wright Tremaine LLP research on Title VII finds that these are the most common employee-accommodation requests:

  • Dress and personal grooming habits
  • Observance of Sabbath or religious holidays
  • Need for prayer break during work hours
  • Dietary requirements
  • Not working during mourning period
  • Sinks for religious washings
  • Prayer space
  • Prohibition against medical exams
  • Prohibition against membership in labor/other organizations

And these are typical reasonable accommodations:

  • Dress/appearance code exceptions
  • Voluntary employee swaps
  • Flexible work schedules 
  • Floating or optional holidays 
  • Staggered work hours
  • Ability to make up lost time
  • Unpaid leave
  • Transfers
  • Designated prayer/washing spaces

The most common recurring cases deal with personal appearance and time off for Sabbath and other religious observances.

Case law has held that employers do not have to relax appearance or grooming standards for religious activities if safety is compromised (such as shaving beards for a proper safety mask fit), or, in most cases, where the company is promoting a 'professional public image' pursuant to a dress code (such as prohibiting facial piercings in employees who deal with customers). One exception is the 1984 case [i]Bhatia v. Chevron[/i], where the court determined that an employee could wear a head covering during Ramadan despite the employer's insistence that she remove it while dealing with customers.

Bryson tells us that in the last 30 years, employees have won about one-third of their claims for scheduling changes caused by observance of religious holidays, nearly one-half of claims for having a beard or hairstyle for religious reasons, and one-fourth of claims for wearing religious apparel.

Legal Best Practices

Bryson advises the following:

  • Have a comprehensive policy that covers anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, anti-retaliation and reasonable accommodations
  • Have internal procedures established to process requests and complaints
  • Have effective training of managers, supervisors and the work force
  • Be proactive—take the first step to suggest accommodations
  • If there's a problem, meet with employees to show a good-faith effort to resolve the issue
  • Make sure there is legal and human-resources involvement
  • Employer cannot require employee to compromise beliefs
  • 'Undue hardships' must be well-defined
  • Employers can voluntarily exceed the minimum standard in accommodating employees
  • The company's policies can 'embrace' religious beliefs as important elements of a diverse work force

Read "Best Practices on Religiously Inclusive Workplaces" for more insight on how to avoid discrimination charges.

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