Religion and Spirituality in the Workplace Essay

Federal law and corporate governance prohibit discrimination and harassment, and Maalick, a minority with a unique religion, encountered inappropriate behaviors in the workplace. It is clear that the Treton office in Chenworth, Kansas had a prolonged atmosphere of ridicule, mistreatment, racial harassment, and religious discrimination. Contrary to protections afforded in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, office personnel openly displayed inappropriate workplace behaviors and defied corporate policy and federal law (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2016). With Title VII regulating adverse actions against a person based on race and religion, workers perpetuated religious mocking and ridicule with head nodding and laughter to Maalick’s new religion.

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

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.

upon an employee's religion. This means, that generally an employer has to give their workers

Religious difference has been a question not just for theological schools and religious institutions but, increasingly for some businesses and corporations, offices and factories. In the past ten years the equal employment opportunity commission, which considers workplace complaints that may violate the civil rights act, has reported a 31 percent rise in complaints of religious discrimination in the workplace.

The laws surrounding the way a company should handle religious practices is defined by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). The EEOC (n.d.) states, “The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment,

This religious discrimination not only demonstrates the cultural problems that are present at the Midwest facility, but for the entire corporation. Even though Martra Ford handled the situation correctly and effectively once she was aware of the problem, other changes must be made to Treton’s EEO training and reporting procedures. Ideally, Maalick’s formal complaints will be dealt with quickly and disciplinary actions distrusted accordingly. Once this issue is resolved Judith Dixon and Martha Ford should determine how to solve the underlying issues that this scenario

There ought to be a line with respect to the appearances and religious ramifications of dress with regards to representatives. The organization ought to have the capacity to

The last protected class discriminated against within the hospitality industry that will be examined is religion. Everyone has their own beliefs, and practices their own faith, but at times these practices can interfere with one’s job opportunities and livelihood. In the case, Christian Emergency Services Supervisory Officer Denied Religious Accommodation and Subjected to Harassment at Keystone Resort, the victim, Lisa Marie Cornwell, an emergency services supervisor at the Keystone Resort, was subjected to harassment for not only her Christian religion but for her gender as well. She was denied religious accommodation and treated less favorably than her male counterparts. The EEOC said that Cornwell’s supervisor, Rick Garcia, banned her and another Christian employee from discussing their Christian beliefs and would not allow them to listen to Christian music while on duty. Moreover, according to the EEOC, Garcia ridiculed Cornwell for asking for scheduling accommodation so that she could attend her desired religious services, and denied her requests while scheduling lower ranking officers for the shifts she requested. On top of that, Cornwall was also sexually harassed, so she went through a lot.

The company’s look policy clearly states that employees cannot wear: “no hats, no black clothing, no facial hair. Women’s hair should long, and nail polish is discouraged” (Smith). This look policy discourages people from applying for a job at these stores because some people would want to wear hats, have short hair, etc. Elauf was not discouraged, but she was denied of a job at this company because she wore a black head scarf to her interview at Abercrombie Kids. Now, Abercrombie is starting to change its policy to allowing religious clothing/accessories and removing shirtless men at store entrances. A justice of the E.E.O.C v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores court case, Justice Samuel A. Alito, asked, “‘Do you think that those people have to say, ‘We just want to tell you, we’re dressed this way for a religious reason?We’re not just trying to make a fashion statement’’” (Smith). Samantha Elauf should not have had to tell the interviewer that she was wearing the scarf for religious reasons. She would have gotten the job if she had not worn the hijab to the interview, so she should have gotten the job even with the scarf. The look policy that was established by this company discriminates people of many races and of

when for an employer to ask the Muslim employee to remove their hijab at work. I think so.

The report reaches the conclusion that a new dress code will be beneficial to both employer and employees. For example, the new policy will create a new image of Wal-Mart that helps on building better customer relationship. In addition, the new policy will improve employees’ morale to enhance team spirits, which helps developing a more desirable working environment. Our recommendation is besides considering the laws; Wal-Mart should put more attention on how to deliver the message, so employees will be more agreeable to abide by the policy when they realize

Due to Sonia’s religious beliefs management should understand and accommodate Sonia’s personal choice for attire. Because Sonia’s attire does not impose undue hardship on the organization’s legitimate business interests, there is no reason not to allow Sonia’s attire in the work place. In order to prove undue hardship an employer must be able to prove that any accommodation would require more than ordinary business costs, diminish efficiency in other jobs, impair workplace safety, infringe on the rights and benefits of other employees, cause other coworkers to carry the burden of the accommodated employee’s hazardous or burdensome work, or conflict with other laws or regulations (Gross, 2012, para 10).

In this chapter we discuss about the previous studies on workplace spirituality, concepts of spirituality and what different researchers think about the workplace spirituality and its effect on employees’ performance on organizational commitment.