Many of your employees and applicants will celebrate religious holidays between now and the end of the year. Today, for example, is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, which began last night at sundown.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for an employer to deny a reasonable accommodation to an individual who wants to practice their religion by, for example, observing a religious holiday or taking time to pray, unless doing so will create an undue hardship.
Last year, the Supreme Court clarified that an undue hardship means substantial increased costs for an employer in relation to the conduct of its particular business.
When employers can but fail to provide reasonable accommodation, they violate Title VII. Even worse, some employers fail to engage in an interactive dialogue to explore the possibility of providing a religious accommodation.
I’ll give you an example.
Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the filing of a lawsuit against a staffing company that allegedly refused a Muslim job applicant who disclosed the need for a religious accommodation at his job interview after the staffing began to explore available openings with him. Specifically, he disclosed a possible need for a longer mid-day break to attend Friday prayer. According to the EEOC, the applicant explained that he might not need additional time if his workplace was close to a mosque. Still, the company’s supervisor ended the interview and noted that the applicant was not hired due to his schedule and need to attend Friday prayer.
Perhaps one of the staffing company’s clients had the flexibility to afford the applicant extra time to attend Friday prayer. Or maybe not, and doing so would have created an undue hardship. I don’t know. And, critically, neither did the defendant because the staffing supervisor who interviewed the applicant allegedly never contacted any clients to inquire whether they could accommodate the individual’s request for accommodation. That’s the problem, especially if one or more clients could have accommodated Friday prayer. Indeed, the EEOC alleges that the requests for Friday prayer would not have caused any of the defendant’s clients to incur substantial increased costs.
So, as we approach a season of many religious holidays, remind your managers not to summarily reject employee requests for time off to celebrate and pray. Also, be mindful when scheduling meetings that conflict with holidays, and understand that some colleagues may be slower to respond.
To those celebrating the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, “shanah tovah umtukah,” which means “may you have a good and sweet new year.”🍎🍯