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Subscribe by EmailPraying For Help: More On Religion In the Workplace
pic by Jordan Klein
Yesterday, I posted a joke regarding Heaven and Hell; today, Friday, as the weekend approaches, and many religions prepare to celebrate their sabbath day, I get a little more serious and present a posting on religion in the workplace.
This posting, borrowing from Workforce Magazine, addresses the following important questions:
A. If we promote religious views at work, are we discriminating against people of different religions?
B. Are evangelical companies discriminatory in that only adherents of those tenets would feel comfortable there, so therefore only adherents need apply?
C. What do you say to an employee that wants to start a work-based prayer group?
A summary of answers follows ………
A.
The EEOC states in its guidelines that an employer is required to reasonably accommodate the religious belief of an employee or prospective employee, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.
Also, it is pointed out that mandatory or coercive prayer groups will not be tolerated by courts. Companies should be sure to avoid even the appearance of required prayer groups.
B.
It isn’t de facto discrimination, but it may be self-selecting if a company isn’t careful. Some companies may want to avoid hiring people who don’t mirror their views. But they can’t. It’s illegal. There is an exception for religious-based businesses such as churches or religious-based charities.
C. That’s a business-based decision. Note if you allow one group, you may have to allow other prayer groups. The workday affected by competing prayer groups trying to recruit members for their ranks.
You may read the entire posting on religion and discrimination in the workplace here.
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Comments
I have created a blog just now on employee rights in call centers in india….
i have seen and experiance employees being treated as trash by their bosses and teared to pieces when they take a call on leaving the company,HR instead of comming as a helping hand and providing solutions comes as a saviour to the employer and doesnt pay any attention th\io the reason….
May be you can help.
akshaya
On the first question, I’d say the issue’s not really accommodation — because an employee is not seeking any change in employment terms (like being allowed to take off for a religious holiday). Instead, the employee merely seeks to be “left alone.”
I would approach it from two other angles.
First, religious harassment. There is protection against religious harassment. One person’s friendly lunchtime conversation about a coworker’s religious beliefs — or debate about a theological question (some of us enoy this in a spirit of ecumenical openminded intellectual curiosity and friendliness; others feel “called” to convert nonbelievers) — is another’s unwanted attempt at conversion.
The rule should be the same as sexual harassment: if your coworker’s religious conversation or comments trouble you, ask them to stop. If they don’t, report it up the line, at which time management should intervene to protect you from what is perceived as a religiously hostile environment. More so if the hostility is overt (religious name-calling, “you’re going to hell, etc.”)
Second, a concern is religious discrimination in employment decisions (promotion, termination, etc.). Overt religious commentary from supervisory personnel could be used as evidence of religious bias if a religious minority suffers an unfavorable employment decision.
How different is “Jews and Muslims are going to hell” from “blacks are dumb,” “women are weak,” or “old employees are slow”?
Such comments end up as the “smoking gun” in employment discrimination cases. They make the defense of such cases much more iffy.
Religious diversity should be part of any diversity training.