Are You Making A Good-Faith Effort To Accommodate Employee's Religious Beliefs?

Mike Abcarian offered insight for a Dallas Citbizlist article.

As Passover approaches and the Easter Bunny hops into town, employers should be mindful of the workplace policies that should be in place to reduce the risk of potential religious discrimination claims, according to the article.

According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers must “reasonably accommodate” workers’ religious beliefs. While the numbers of religion-related claims filed with the federal EEOC are decreasing from an all-time high in 2011 of 4,157, the number filed in 2013 was still substantial at 3,721

“Religious-based harassment claims can be just as costly and detrimental to a company as sexual or racial harassment suits,” said Mike.

“Employers should consider three things with the religious holidays around the corner:  how can they proactively reduce their risks of a discrimination lawsuit, is it best to avoid all forms of holiday decorations in an effort to avoid offending an employee’s religion, and what should they do when accommodating an employee’s beliefs interferes with the productivity of the workplace,” he explained.