Religion in the Workplace

The law recognizes that a person shouldn’t have to choose between their livelihood and their sincere religious beliefs. There are limits to the ways you can express religion in the workplace. Yet, you have legal protections for many types of religious practices.

Learn about your religious rights and limitations at work. An employment lawyer can also help you review any concerns you have about your workplace or an employment decision.

What Is Religious Discrimination?

Religious discrimination at work is unfair treatment based on an employee’s religious beliefs and practices. A simple example of religious discrimination is firing a Muslim employee for wearing a headscarf/hijab.

Most religious discrimination cases against businesses arise under federal or state statutes. This is because the First Amendment only protects two freedoms about religion: freedom from government-imposed religion and the right to practice any religion. Neither of these rights directly relates to private employers. But, they remain subject to state and federal laws that ban religious discrimination in employment.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on religion, including but not limited to:

• Christianity
• Judaism
• Buddhism
• Islam
• Hinduism
• Agnosticism

Under the Act, private businesses with at least 15 employees cannot:

• Discriminate based on religious beliefs or practices in any aspect of employment
• Harass based on religious beliefs or practices
• Deny reasonable religious accommodations unless it would cause an undue burden
• Retaliate against individuals engaging in protected activities (such as filing complaints)

Federal laws against religious discrimination also protect individuals with non-traditional beliefs or practices. This includes those with atheistic views, as long as their views are sincerely held. Taking an employee's word regarding their belief system is usually good practice.

What Is Religious Accommodation?

Religious accommodation is a workplace change for workers to practice religion.

An accommodation becomes necessary when the following interferes with a worker's employment:

• Religious beliefs
• Religious observances
• Religious practices

An employer typically cannot interfere with an employee's religious practices. An exception may be granted if an employer can prove they would sustain undue hardship. Accommodations can pertain to an employee's religious expression. They can also involve an employee's schedule and religious garb.

When Are Employers Liable for Religious Discrimination?

Employers are liable for religious discrimination if it creates a hostile work environment. In these cases, businesses can limit or avoid liability if:

• They exercise reasonable care to prevent or correct harassing behavior promptly
• The claimant unreasonably failed to take advantage of preventive or corrective opportunities

Intervene quickly to address religious discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Sometimes, waiting for a complaint to take action may be too late. This is especially true if the conduct has created a hostile work environment.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces employment discrimination laws. Employees can file a formal complaint through the government. EEOC claims are often a necessary step to recover from the effects of unfair treatment.

Reasonable Accommodations for Religious Freedom at Work

Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs or non-beliefs. This is required by federal law.

Common types of accommodations include:

• Revising schedules or using other employees as voluntary shift substitutes
• Revising an employee's tasks
• Lateral transfers
• Exceptions to dress and grooming rules
• Allowing work facilities to be used for religious observances
• Voluntary job swaps
• Other modifications to workplace policies and practices

Examples of Accommodation Requests

Accommodation requests often relate to work schedules, dress and grooming, or religious expression in the workplace.

Examples include:

• A Muslim requesting time to pray, which may require a small amount of flexible scheduling changes
• Request to wear a headscarf, hijab, yarmulke, or other types of religious dress where it would not impact workplace safety
• Trading shifts to avoid working on a religious holiday

Undue Hardship for Religious Accommodations

Employers don't need to provide reasonable accommodations if it would cause undue hardship. Undue hardship is when the accommodation would impose more than a de minimis cost. This is a fact-specific determination made on a case-by-case basis. But it can be based on the direct monetary costs of an accommodation and its burden on a business.

Courts will typically find undue hardship where religious accommodations:

• Diminish the efficiency of other employees
• Create an imbalance of hazardous or burdensome work in the workplace
• Infringe on other employees' job rights or benefits
• Impair workplace safety
• Impose a significant cost to the employer

Can I Talk About My Religion at Work?

The answer is complicated. You can mention aspects of your religious affiliation. Anti-discrimination laws protect the conditions of employment regardless of your religious background. They don’t protect all religious-based expressions at work. Employees don’t have a broad right to proselytize at work under the Civil Rights Act or the First Amendment.

Employers can limit religious expression within reason. For example, a private employer may have a policy to minimize religious discussions that disrupt business operations. Or, a policy can prevent employees from discussing religion with customers in a way that misrepresents the views of the employer. These policies likely would not violate an employee’s free speech rights. Yet, singling out one particular religion for different treatment may be discriminatory.

An employer can discipline harassing behavior even when it's based on religious reasons. For example, harshly criticizing a coworker for being Catholic instead of Protestant may be religious harassment. Employers must be careful when deciding whether an expression of religion crosses this line.

Discussing religious views at work can raise the potential for conflict. Taking caution to avoid anything that may be harassing or offensive to others is wise. But employees can practice protected religious activities at work without the threat of discrimination.

Need to File an Employment Action? Contact an Attorney Today

Neither your employers nor coworkers can discriminate against you on the basis of religion. An employee's religious beliefs should always be protected. No religious group should face adverse employment decisions because of their beliefs. Consider working with an employment law attorney in your area for more information.