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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    58

    Default Religion Change

    My question involves employment and labor law for the state of: Illinois

    In 2006, employee signed application and job description stating her ability to work weekends and understanding of our month end close out policy which means the last 3 days of each month, all must work in her department.

    In August she says she will not be here for closeout because it falls on a Sunday and she must attend church. This was the first we hear of it. She also failed to attend a mandatory meeting that same week.

    We terminated her and she believes this was discrimination and she should have been accommodated due to her religion.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    9,096

    Default Re: Religion Change

    I know of no church service that lasts an entire day.

    Did she offer to come in after church?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    58

    Default Re: Religion Change

    No, she did not come in at all. Thank for your insight.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Religion Change

    The EEOC provides a summary of employer responsibilities:
    Quote Quoting Religious Accommodation
    Employers must reasonably accommodate employees' sincerely held religious practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. A reasonable religious accommodation is any adjustment to the work environment that will allow the employee to practice his religion. An employer might accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices by allowing: flexible scheduling, voluntary substitutions or swaps, job reassignments and lateral transfers, modification of grooming requirements and other workplace practices, policies and/or procedures.
    More details are available here,
    Quote Quoting Religious Discrimination in the Workplace
    Does an employer have to grant every request for accommodation of a religious belief or practice?

    No. Title VII requires employers to accommodate only those religious beliefs that are religious and “sincerely held,” and that can be accommodated without an undue hardship. Although there is usually no reason to question whether the practice at issue is religious or sincerely held, if the employer has a bona fide doubt about the basis for the accommodation request, it is entitled to make a limited inquiry into the facts and circumstances of the employee’s claim that the belief or practice at issue is religious and sincerely held, and gives rise to the need for the accommodation.

    Factors that – either alone or in combination – might undermine an employee’s assertion that he sincerely holds the religious belief at issue include: whether the employee has behaved in a manner markedly inconsistent with the professed belief; whether the accommodation sought is a particularly desirable benefit that is likely to be sought for secular reasons; whether the timing of the request renders it suspect (e.g., it follows an earlier request by the employee for the same benefit for secular reasons); and whether the employer otherwise has reason to believe the accommodation is not sought for religious reasons.

    However, none of these factors is dispositive. For example, although prior inconsistent conduct is relevant to the question of sincerity, an individual’s beliefs – or degree of adherence – may change over time, and therefore an employee’s newly adopted or inconsistently observed religious practice may nevertheless be sincerely held. An employer also should not assume that an employee is insincere simply because some of his or her practices deviate from the commonly followed tenets of his or her religion.

    When does an accommodation pose an “undue hardship”?

    An accommodation would pose an undue hardship if it –would cause more than de minimis cost on the operation of the employer’s business. Factors relevant to undue hardship may include the type of workplace, the nature of the employee’s duties, the identifiable cost of the accommodation in relation to the size and operating costs of the employer, and the number of employees who will in fact need a particular accommodation.

    Costs to be considered include not only direct monetary costs but also the burden on the conduct of the employer’s business. For example, courts have found undue hardship where the accommodation diminishes efficiency in other jobs, infringes on other employees’ job rights or benefits, impairs workplace safety, or causes co-workers to carry the accommodated employee’s share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work. Whether the proposed accommodation conflicts with another law will also be considered.

    To prove undue hardship, the employer will need to demonstrate how much cost or disruption a proposed accommodation would involve. An employer cannot rely on potential or hypothetical hardship when faced with a religious obligation that conflicts with scheduled work, but rather should rely on objective information. A mere assumption that many more people with the same religious practices as the individual being accommodated may also seek accommodation is not evidence of undue hardship.

    If an employee’s proposed accommodation would pose an undue hardship, the employer should explore alternative accommodations.
    And also here.

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