Employer Services Bulletin
Religious Discrimination Complaints on the Rise
By Weldon H. Latham, Michael R. Hatcher, and Angela Hart-Edwards
[September 2008]
Religious discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have doubled since 1992, rising from 1,388 to a record level of 2,880 in 2007. Of last year's charges of religious discrimination, 375 alleged failure to accommodate in matters such as taking time off for religious holidays or wearing religious clothing in the workplace. The standard for reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is less stringent than the standard for reasonable accommodations of disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thus, employers should carefully consider any request for an accommodation for a religious practice.
Recognizing that more employees are turning to federal, state and local government agencies to resolve allegations of religious discrimination, wise employers should review their own practices to ensure that they do not risk a religious discrimination claim. Employers should proactively implement policies and procedures aimed at reducing actual and perceived religious discrimination in the workplace.
Best practices for reasonable accommodation of religious beliefs and practices
Employer best practices include the following:
- Inform employees (through the Employee Handbook or other policy documents) that the employer will provide reasonable accommodations for employees' religious practices. Include where the accommodation requests should be directed.
- Train managers and supervisors on how to recognize religious accommodation requests from employees.
- Train managers and supervisors to involve Human Resources professionals in all accommodation decisions.
- Develop internal procedures for processing religious accommodation requests.
- Individually assess each accommodation request and avoid any assumption or stereotype about what constitutes a religious belief or a requirement of any particular religion.
- Confer fully and promptly with employees regarding accommodation requests.
- Apprise employees regarding the status of the employer's efforts to implement an accommodation.
- Advise the affected manager(s) regarding the accommodation to be implemented.
- Periodically evaluate the success of the accommodation and make adjustments as needed.
- Train all employees about the importance of respect for differences, including employees' differing religious beliefs.
Implementing best practices, as part of everyday business decisions, should help reduce the risk of religious discrimination in the workplace and increase the chances that any concerns can be resolved in-house without the necessity of outside agencies.
Of additional interest: Co-author Weldon Latham recently authored “How Can Employee-Resource Groups Pay Off?” in DiversityInc. The article offers insight into an advanced initiative that helps a range of diverse employees and their employer work together as one team.
For further information, please contact:
This advisory is a publication of the Corporate Diversity Counseling Group of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Our purpose in publishing this advisory is to inform our clients and friends of recent legal developments. It is not intended, nor should it be used, as a substitute for specific legal advice as legal counsel may only be given in response to inquiries regarding particular situations.
Copyright © 2008, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
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