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Religious Discrimination In The Workplace: Know Your Rights
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and federal law stop employers from partaking in any form of religious discrimination. This discrimination includes making decisions about jobs based on the applicant's or employee's lack of religious beliefs or their religion. Also, Title VII restricts harassment in the workplace based on religious beliefs. It requires that employers work to accommodate their employees' religious practices or beliefs, as long as doing so won't create an undue hardship for the company.
Who Religious Discrimination Laws Protect
This law encompasses all government employers, no matter if they're local, federal, or state. Employers with a minimum of 15 employees must also follow these laws. In addition, labor organizations, public and private employment agencies, management committees, and labor committees must adhere to it. If you apply to work or already work for one of these employers, these laws protect you from religious discrimination. Many states also have laws that stop religious discrimination in the work environment, which can extend to smaller companies.
Defining Religion
Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on their religious practices or beliefs. An employer isn't allowed to discriminate if the employee doesn't have religious beliefs. So, it's illegal for a religious employer to refuse to hire an applicant if they're not part of a particular religion or if they're an atheist. Also, the employee doesn't have to be part of organized, prominent religion to have this protection from discrimination. However, the employee does have to have sincerely held beliefs that are religious.
Understanding Religious Beliefs
A belief falls under the religious umbrella if you can find it in the particular religion in the person's scheme of things. So, this belief has to concern more significant ideas like death, life, or purpose. In the individual's mind, it has to fill a spot much like "God" would in more organized and traditional religions.
Any employee doesn't have to belong to mainstream or traditional religion to fall into a protected offshoot of the sect, as the laws encompass smaller groups. Also, any employee who has religious beliefs that break off from the faith they practice has protection. For example, say that you belong to a progressive Catholic church. The church has views on celibacy, women's ordination, and gay rights that differ from the Vatican. You'll still get protection from discrimination, even though your specific beliefs are different from the traditional Catholic church's official doctrine.
However, personal beliefs, even those that you deem extremely important as the believer, won't necessarily be religious. This includes things like social, economic, or political beliefs that you hold very firmly. Whether or not the practice or belief has a religious nature depends on the person who holds the belief and their motivation. For example, you may have a coworker who wears a head covering at all times because the religion they follow requires it as a form of modesty. However, a second coworker could wear a head covering because they like how it looks, are losing their hair, or are cold. The first practice would fall under the religious category, while the second wouldn't fit.
What Are Sincerely Held Beliefs?
An employer also has the responsibility to accommodate any employee's sincerely held religious beliefs. It's very rare for someone to challenge an employee who has sincerely held beliefs. When this issue arises, it's usually because an employee wants an exception to a rule or regulation. For example, an employee with visible tattoos and piercings says that it goes against their religious beliefs to cover the tattoos or remove the piercings when they're at work, as the dress code requires. If the company believes that the employee isn't acting on a sincerely held religious belief but is simply skirting the dress code, it could argue that the employee's request is for personal gain over beliefs.
The question of whether or not an employee is working with sincerely held religious beliefs or for their gain gets determined on a case-by-case basis. The company will have to look at all of the circumstances and facts surrounding the request.
3 Common Types of Religious Discrimination
It's illegal for an employer to discriminate against an applicant or employee based on their sincerely held religious beliefs. But, they're not allowed to harass an employee over their beliefs either. And not allowing discrimination based on religion also means that any employer has to accommodate an employee's or applicant's religion.
1. Discrimination
An employer isn't allowed to make a hiring decision based on the employee's religion. For example, it's illegal for an employer to promote only Mormons, refuse to hire Baptists, or fire all Muslims. Any employee who doesn't subscribe to any religion also has protection from discrimination if treated differently because the employer follows a specific religion. For example, an employer isn't allowed to refuse to hire someone who has different beliefs from the founder's faith, and they can't refuse to promote someone for their lack of belief.
Decisions based on a person's religion aren't legal, no matter if the employer disapproves or approves of the employee's beliefs. So any employer who promotes only hiring and working with Christians discriminates just as much as one who won't hire an atheist.
2. Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodations
Title VII stops employers from making hiring decisions based on an applicant's religion. However, it can also require that the employer accommodate an employee's religious practices or beliefs. So, they'll have to consider any applicant's religion when they make their hiring decisions.
This contradiction arises because religion isn't solid like someone's age or race is. Instead, you can think of it as a set of beliefs or practices. In some religions, the believers either want to express their faith or believe that the religion dictates that they show their devotion by wearing certain religious items or clothing, not cutting their hair, or praying a few times a day.
An employer has to work to accommodate these beliefs unless it would cause undue hardship to the company. Undue hardship would be asking for accommodations that are substantial, disruptive, or unreasonable. For example, a coworker could ask to start later in the day due to needing to meet religious obligations. This could cause the rest of the team to have to work harder to pick up the slack, or the company may have to hire someone to fill in the gaps.
3. Harassment
Harassment is any unwelcome conduct that is so pervasive or severe that it works to create a hostile, offensive, or intimidating working space. For example, if a coworker continuously makes cruel comments or fun about an employee's religious beliefs, this could be considered harassment based on religion. supervisor has to prevent this from happening and address it as it comes up to ensure that everybody has a comfortable working environment.
Our Team Can Assist with Religious Discrimination Lawsuits
If you believe you were a victim of religious discrimination by a current or former employer, contact us. We'll set up a consultation, go over your case, and help you decide if you have enough evidence for a lawsuit.
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