RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION & ACCOMMODATION IN EMPLOYMENT

By Sharon G. Hobbs

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, and national origin.

The Minnesota Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation, and age.

EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS
Employers may not treat job applicants or employees differently in any aspect of their employment, hiring, discipline, promotion, benefits, compensation, assignments, or firing based on their religious beliefs or practices.

Employers may not allow their employees to be harassed because of their religious beliefs or practices. Religious harassment includes both attempts to require or coerce an employee to alter, abandon, or adopt a religious practice as a condition of employment or unwelcome statements or conduct based on religion which create a hostile or abusive work environment.

Employers must provide requested reasonable accommodations of an employee’s religious beliefs and practices.

Employers may not retaliate against employees because of the exercise of these rights.

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS
When an employee requests an accommodation due to a conflict between the employee’s religion and the employee’s work, the employer must grant such accommodation unless the accommodation would place an undue hardship on the business. The standard for an undue hardship is lower in the case of accommodating religion than disability. Undue hardship in the case of religion accommodation means “more than a de minimus burden on the operation of the business.” Generally an employer is not required to violate an existing bona fide seniority system or collective bargaining agreement to accommodate an employee.

Although religious accommodation which impairs a co-worker’s ability to do his/her job will generally constitute an undue hardship, complaints by co-workers who resent or are jealous of the accommodations received by a worker are not an undue hardship on the business.

Examples of reasonable accommodations for religion include allowing flexible schedules to allow an employee to make up time lost for observance of religious practices or allowing employees to voluntarily swap shifts to allow an employee to be absent for religious observances. Generally, it would be an undue hardship to require other employees to swap shifts.

An employer may be required to relieve an employee of a task which conflicts with the employee’s religious beliefs if others are able and available to perform the duty.

Employers may also be required to allow an exception to the employer’s dress code to accommodate religious grooming practices related to clothing, head coverings, shaving, or hair length especially if the exception can be made without any safety issues.

CONCLUSION
Employers will need to be increasingly aware of these obligations as our society becomes more religiously diverse.

Sharon Hobbs practices in the areas of business law, employment law and estate planning.

© 2008 Rinke-Noonan.

This article is a general discussion of legal issues and is not intended to be legal advice. We would be pleased to review the specific facts and law regarding any given legal matter.