6 Steps to Respecting and Accommodating Religion in the Workplace

Federal law requires organizations to provide employees with a safe workplace environment to practice their religion. Additionally, an inclusive workplace where employees can express their religion, spirituality and beliefs creates a more fulfilling work experience and improves job satisfaction, morale and engagement. 

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers must reasonably accommodate employees sincerely held religious, ethical and moral beliefs or practices, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.  

There can be many types of requests for religious accommodation. Examples of modifications to workplace practices, policies or procedures include: 

• Adjusting a work schedule or granting an employee leave for religious observances 

• Accommodating prayer time during the day 

• Creating a physical space for prayer 

• Job reassignment to avoid tasks that conflict with an individual’s religious beliefs 

• Making exceptions to dress codes and grooming standards and  

• Honoring dietary requirements 

Title VII also protects employees from discrimination and harassment. The law prohibits activities that require or coerce employees to abandon, alter or adopt a religious practice as a condition of employment, as well as unwelcome remarks or conduct based on religion. Employees who profess to have no religious beliefs are also protected from discrimination and harassment under Title VII. 

Groff vs DeJoy Ruling 

Although companies are not obligated to fulfill religious accommodations if they pose an undue hardship on the employer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) states that “temporary costs, voluntary shift swapping, occasional shift swapping, or administrative costs” do not constitute undue hardships, even if they technically inflict some burdens on employers.  

Recently the threshold to prove undue hardship was elevated by courts beyond more than an out-of-the-ordinary expense to the same level as the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) definition of undue hardship: an action requiring significant difficulty or expense. 

The US Supreme Court’s 2023 Groff vs DeJoy ruling created a new, more rigorous standard for employers before concluding that a proposed accommodation for a religious belief or practice presents an undue hardship. It ruled that employers must accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs unless the burden of granting the accommodation would result in “substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.” 

The Groff vs DeJoy decision places a heavier burden on employers who deny requests for religious accommodation. When faced with a request for religious accommodation, employers must consider all relevant factors, including, for example, whether the accommodation would cause sustained, increased monetary costs or decreased efficiency, whether it would detrimentally affect other employees’ schedules or day-to-day work life, and/or whether the accommodation would pose health or safety risks. An employer should only deny an accommodation request if it can point to concrete and substantial increased costs or other hardships that are excessive or unjustifiable.  

As a result, employers should: 

• Review their current policies on religious discrimination and accommodation in the workplace to determine if updates are needed. 

• Review their internal processes for evaluating religious accommodation requests and modify those processes to conform to the ruling, if necessary. Ensure that when considering whether an employee’s request for religious accommodation should be granted, careful consideration of various types of accommodation is given, as an employer would do in assessing a requested ADA accommodation. 

• If accommodation options may affect co-workers in a potentially negative fashion, evaluate how the accommodation may affect the conduct of the business before rejecting the option solely based on co-worker concerns. 

• Train managers and human resources professionals on how to handle religious accommodation requests in accordance with the updated policies and processes. 

Preventing Religious Discrimination with Training 

Retaliation against an employee for requesting religious accommodation constitutes religious discrimination under Title VII and EEOC regulations. If an employee requests not to work on Sundays, for example, and the manager reacts by giving that employee bad shifts the rest of the week, the employee could have a discrimination claim against the company. 

Failure to legal comply with religious accommodations requests can have costly consequences to organizations. Employers could pay up to $300,000 to settle religious charges brought to the EEOC. In fiscal year 2023, the EEOC reported that organizations paid approximately $9.1 million to settle religion-based charges of discrimination. 

Religious accommodations training can help organizations avoid legal pitfalls and cultivate a workplace where employees of all faiths feel valued and respected. Managers, in particular, have an important responsibility to handle employee religious accommodation requests with sensitivity and respect. Ensuring managers have the proper training, knowledge and tools to properly address requests for reasonable accommodation fosters an inclusive work environment where people feel confident that they will not be treated negatively for expressing their faith. 

Practical Steps to Fostering Religious Inclusion 

By implementing thoughtful policies and fostering an environment of understanding, employers can support their team’s spiritual needs and create a more welcoming and respectful workplace culture. Companies can take six steps to create religious diversity at work: 

1. Acknowledge religious practices 
   Include major religious and cultural holidays on a calendar to help set work schedules. Be mindful of these dates when planning meetings or events and raise team awareness of upcoming faith-related events. 

2. Grant time off to employees for religious reasons 
   Be flexible with religions that require worship at specific times. For instance, managers can allow employees to use their lunch break for worship even if it is ordinarily at a different time. Also, allow employees to use personal paid or unpaid leave for religious holidays. 

3. Welcome attire and grooming tied to religious beliefs 
   Sincerely held religious practices, such as wearing a beard, hijab or turban, are protected by law. Accommodate religious attire and other symbols when there are no health and safety risks involved for the employee or co-workers.  

4. Provide a multifaith prayer room during working hours 
   Accommodate the spiritual needs of employees by having a quiet room for the purposes of prayer, meditation and private reflection.  

5. Offer meal and drink options 
   Consider dietary requirements of employees during lunch meetings and events. Include kosher, halal, and vegetarian options. For those who are fasting, offer take-out containers. Provide other drink options at parties for those who abstain from alcohol. 

6. Create an interfaith employee resource group 
   Creating an employee resource group (ERG) that focuses on interfaith dialog provides a supportive environment for employees to share and learn about varied religious identities. 

How Traliant Can Help 

Organizations provide a more fulfilling experience for employees when they support the practice of religion, spirituality and beliefs at work. Traliant’s Disability, Pregnancy & Religious Accommodations training for employees and managers explains the legal requirements for accommodate religious expression and how to comply to reduce the risk of discrimination and harassment claims and fosters a respectful, diverse workplace in which employees can be successful in their jobs without compromising their religious beliefs.