Religion in the workplace: make a good-faith effort to accommodate - includes calendar of religious holidays and related article on religious accommodation regarding time off and dress - Cover Story

HR Magazine, Dec, 1998 by Patricia Digh

Editor's Note: Although religion is rarely discussed at work, it plays an important role in most peoples' lives. With this in mind, HRMagazine offers a brief guide to the religious customs and holy days observed by many U.S. workers. No magazine article can fully reflect the complex tenets and beliefs of any religion. But we hope this overview, and the additional references available on our web page, will help HR professionals better understand and accommodate the spiritual lives of their workers.

Religious devotion and diversity are on the rise in the United States, and the combination of these trends is creating new challenges and new demands for employers. As a result, handling future requests for religious accommodation may require HR professionals to demonstrate greater sensitivity, tolerance and understanding of various religious beliefs.

Unfortunately, some employers may not be prepared to accommodate the many forms that religious accommodation can take.

When it comes to adapting to religious holidays, the majority of HR professionals appear to have gotten the message. In a 1997 survey of 750 human resource professionals conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, 68 percent of respondents said they offer flexible schedules for religious observances.

With other forms of religious accommodation, however, employers don't seem as proactive. For example, of those responding to the survey, only

* 19 percent included religion in diversity training programs.

* 18 percent trained their managers in religious accommodations.

* 15 percent provided space or time for religious observance, study or discussion.

* 13 percent said their companies accommodated religious attire.

This lack of preparation for the gamut of religious accommodations stands in direct conflict with a religious groundswell that has been seizing the nation.

A NATION GETS RELIGION

Americans have become an increasingly religious people: Since 1900, the nation's church membership has grown twice as fast as the population.

In addition, Americans appear to hold a high degree of religious devotion. According to Gallup's Princeton Religion Research Center, 90 percent of American adults say religion is either very important or fairly important in their lives; only 9 percent say religion is not very important.

In fact, adherents of more than 1,500 primary religious organizations now worship in the United States. Of these, more than 900 are Christian denominations. More than 100 Hindu denominations have come to the United States since the mid-1960s, and more than 75 forms of Buddhism currently exist here, according to the Encyclopedia of American Religions (5th edition, 1996, Gale Research).

Given the fervor and increasing diversity of Americans' religious beliefs, it is probably not surprising that charges of religious discrimination in the workplace have jumped 43 percent since the beginning of the decade, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Between 1996 and 1997 alone, charges of religion-related discrimination jumped 9 percent, to 1,709.

The increasing number of legal claims surrounding religion has not gone unnoticed in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. For example, in August 1997, President Clinton reasserted the right of all federal employees to express their religious beliefs in the government workplace. And the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA), which is likely to be reintroduced in the new Congress convening next month, would amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to increase employers' responsibility to accommodate workers' religious beliefs. The proposed amendment focuses primarily on accommodating employees' desire to take time off to practice their religion.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), one of the bill's co-sponsors, says current legal protection has been "too narrowly interpreted by the courts, giving employers leeway to refuse religious accommodation." As the law now reads, any accommodation that involves more than a minimum expense or inconvenience to the employer could be considered an "undue hardship," thus justifying refusal.

The bill would require employers to make an "affirmative and bona fide effort" to accommodate employees' religious practices. It would also more strictly define "undue hardship" based on

* The cost of lost productivity (retraining, rehiring or transferring other employees to do the work of an absent employee).

* The size of the employer.

* The number of employees that would require accommodation.

* The difficulty and cost for employers that have more than one facility or place of business.

In his October 1997 testimony to the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Kerry stated, "For many religiously observant Americans, the greater peril to their ability to carry out their religious faith on a day-to-day basis indeed comes from the rigidity and inflexibility of employers."

THE SPIRIT OF ACCOMMODATION

Kerry's comments show that when employers don't show respect for employees' religious beliefs, elected officials are likely to step in and force them to.