Federal law requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees’ religious beliefs or practices. An employer may not deny an accommodation to a religious-based accommodation unless doing so would create a hardship on the employer.
A reasonable accommodation may include flexible scheduling and job reassignments. Additionally, absent hardship, an employer may need to change workplace policies regarding clothing and grooming standard, to include wearing particular head coverings or other religious dress (such as a yarmulke or a headscarf), wearing certain hairstyles or facial hair (such as Rastafarian dreadlocks or Sikh uncut hair and beard), or observing religious prohibitions against wearing certain garments (such as pants or miniskirts).
Based on an Employee’s Religion, and Employer May Not:
-Make offensive remarks about a person’s religious beliefs, practices, clothing or grooming practices
-Favor employees of one religion over others
-Segregate jobs, such as assigning an employee to a behind-the-scenes position based on actual or presumed customer or client preference
-Refuse to accommodate routine religious practices or holidays
Based on an Employee’s Lack of Religion, and Employer May Not:
-Force employees to participate in group religious activities, such as morning prayer or lunch time bible study
-Treat a non-religious employee less favorably
If these or any other situations have happened to you, you may have been the victim of religious discrimination. Contact our office today for a free consultation!