Religion In Workplace

In “Working it Out” by Diana Eck, she writes about religious oppression in the workplace. The examples she gives on the many ways people have been fired, or the ways in which people's faiths have been compromised, reiterates that the amendment that states freedom of religion in the United States, is

1. Maalick experienced religious segregation on a few events while at work. The primary occurrence was the point at which he asked for get-away for a religious occasion and his director was hesitant to allow the solicitation as a result of his religious convictions. As indicated by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 managers are required to sensibly suit the religious practices of a representative or planned worker, unless to do as such would make an undue hardship upon the business. Sensible housing may incorporate adaptability in planning, work reassignments, or intentional substitutions. Despite the fact that the supervisor in the long run conceded the get-away demand since he doubted Maalick about it when it would not bring about the organization undue hardship would be viewed as religious separation. After Maalick changed his name he encountered prodding about his religious decisions from his associates and his chief. This made an extremely threatening workplace for Maalick. The misuse that Maalick persevered is viewed as religious segregation and provocation. It is unlawful to disturb somebody on account of their religious convictions. As indicated by the Federal Equal

Gomez-Mejia, L., Balkin, D., & Cardy, R. (2012). Managing Human Resources (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

This says it is unlawful to discriminate against people at work because of their religion or belief. The regulations also cover training that is to do with work.

The United States is one of the most culturally and religiously diverse countries in the world. The founding fathers of the United States wanted to ensure that its people would have the ability to practice their religion with no threat of persecution. In order to accomplish the goal of religious freedom and continue to ensure that all people of any religion would be free to practice their religion, the United States passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits an employer from discriminating based on the religious views of its employees. As the citizens of the United States spend a large amount of time in their places of employment, religious practices that these employees feel are necessary for the true observance of their religion must be accommodated by the employers. This law contends that in cases where the accommodation of religious practices of its employees does not create undue hardships, an employer must make reasonable accommodations for employees to practices the beliefs of their religion. As the demographics of the United States continues to change with more religiously diverse people immigrating to the country, employers are coming under more pressure to ensure they are taking all possible precautions to accommodate the religious practices of its employees. These precautions are important as the once an employee has established a bona fide complaint of religious discrimination, the burden of proof then falls on the employer to prove they

Reasonable Accommodation & Religion: The law requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause difficulty or expense for the employer. This means an employer may have to make reasonable adjustments at work that will allow the employee to practice his or her religion, such as allowing an employee to voluntarily swap shifts with a co- worker.

time off from work to practice their faith and celebrate religious holidays. Employers may face

There are no set EEOC guidelines to define religious harassment; therefore, steps are not being taken to avoid or prevent religious harassment in the workplace. This was seen in the case Zayed v. Apple Computers when Zayed’s

Freedom of religion has been a right guaranteed to individuals in society. However, it is ultimately just an idea put in place that is disregarded as something insignificant. The workplaces of many people choose to deny employees the right to express their religion freely, for fear it may leave a bad image for the company. It is apparent that freedom of religion is not a strong right as many people may have originally thought it was. The limits of this right have been tested for decades and continue to be an issue for people today. Freedom of religion may go on to exist as a right in society, but when investigating deeper into this privilege, it is evident that it is merely an idea taken for granted.

Advertisements for job vacancies made by Protestant employers often stated “Catholics need not apply.” revealing the degree of mistrust they felt towards Catholics. (Nguyen, 2013)

Cultural differences in the workplace can sometimes become a challenge in the work environment. In order to facilitate these differences, there must be some form of cultural awareness. Cultural awareness can help employees face the challenge of responding to individuals with different religions in the workplace, expose religious practices, and eliminate stereotyping in the workplace. Awareness of religions, and the beliefs associated with different religions, can be accomplished in many ways, such as training courses, workshops or company handouts (Thomas Kochan, 2003, p. 4). Companies must embrace multiculturalism and diversity.

As the world expands and modernizes, the relevancy of religion has begun to diminish. The importance of religion has reached such a low in many different cultures that the most popular religion is becoming no religion. This category of people are consisted of atheists, agnostics and those who just don’t care enough to declare a set preference. As the times continue to progress, scientific discoveries have been explaining nearly every question about nature one can have which creates less of a dependance on any religion or belief in a higher being. Along with that, many religions come with an outline of how to live everyday life. Most people see these as just a set of rules that constrain them from living their lives

Around a million Christians are being targeted in discriminatory remarks and jokes mocking faith at the workplace, causing some of them to become uncomfortable about revealing their prayer or church practices, according to a new study by ComRes.

Religion in the workplace can bring up some of the most difficult issues employers have to face. Resolving these issues requires understanding the law and balancing the business's needs with an employee's desire to practice his or her religion. One of the most contentious conflicts is between an employee's desire to take time off and the potential reduction in productivity and profitability. In ruling on Title VII religion cases, the courts have held that employers aren't required to accommodate employees' religious activities when it involves increased financial costs, transferring supervisory personnel or employees from other departments resulting in inefficiency, or discriminating against other employees or violating seniority systems. Accommodations that don't constitute undue hardship to the employer include voluntary substitutions or employee "swaps," flexible work schedules, floating or optional holidays, staggered work hours, and allowing employees to make up lost time. Transfers and job changes also are options if they don't cause reduced efficiency or

Today there are over 900 religious employee resource groups, according to the International Coalition of Workplace Ministries (Cañas & Sondak, 2010). These affinity groups can help encourage religious understanding by offering panel discussions that educate employees on their beliefs. By allowing open discussion, answering religious questions and creating an open, welcoming religious environment in the workplace employees can better relate to one another through shared religious principles (Cañas & Sondak, 2010). When looking at the business case for diversity, not asking employees to hide their faith at work allows for greater productivity, and time and energy focused on business results (Cañas