When Is It Religious Discrimination In The Workplace?

How do you know when you’ve suffered religious discrimination in the workplace?

What is religious discrimination in the workplace?

Religion is one of the protected classes under Federal law. If a company has more than 15 employees it is illegal to discriminate against an employee based on their religion or religious beliefs.

Certain places like New York City also have city laws that protect employees from religious discrimination in the workplace in companies with 4 or more employees.

Religious discrimination in the workplace happens when an employee is treated unfairly because of their religious beliefs.

Employers must make reasonable accommodations for any employees that ask for them based on their religious beliefs. The only exception is if doing so would be serious burden to their employer’s business. An example of a serious burden would be if a business owner needed to hire an additional employee to accommodate another employee’s religious practices.

What are reasonable accommodations? These are any adjustments or changes to the work environment that would make it so that the employee could practice their religion at their workplace. Some examples would be changes to their work schedule, being able to practice your religion during breaks, or an exception to the businesses’ grooming policies.

What are some cases of religious discrimination in the workplace?

• An applicant not getting the job after mentioning that they are of a particular religion, despite being the most qualified applicant.
• Being terminated after requesting to wear religious wear at the work.
• Being the most qualified for a promotion, but being passed over for it because of your religion.
• Not being allowed to take off certain religious holidays, even though other employees of other religions are allowed to take off for theirs.
• An employee is terminated after their manager finds out they practice a particular religion, despite getting positive work reviews.
• Being fired for not participating in a certain religious practice in the workplace.

For more information about religious discrimination in the workplace, send us a message.