Religious Discrimination in the Work Place

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

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Muslims everywhere began to be wrongfully persecuted and attacked. They have also since been denied equality in the workplace as “Americans with Muslim names have a harder time finding a job” and “American Muslims have experienced increased job discrimination since 2001” (Epstein 53). Without the ability to find a job, not only are Muslims effected in their daily lives, they are also unable to find a source of income, hindering them from supporting their families. Muslim religion can also cause further disturbances because there are several “law-abiding Muslims who are unfairly targeted and punished simply because they are Muslim” (qtd. in Epstein 52). This exemplifies the idea

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

Cintas Corporation is a multi-national publicly traded organization (CTAS) based in Cincinnati, OH. Cintas employs approximately 30,000 employees, who are called partners, at local locations spread mainly throughout North America (Cintas, 2016). Cintas employees a diverse workforce, representing cultures and religions from all over the world. Cintas is a company respected for its management systems and execution of policies and procedures. Cintas will continue to grow, and as a result employ more people. With a growing employee base, religion will continue to grow as a political power in the company’s workplace as well (Adams, 2012). As such, it is critical Cintas has a clearly defined policy regarding religious holiday leave that complies with all Federal and State employment laws.

In the article Religious-Discrimination Claims on the Rise by Melanie Trottman, it is stated that “the EEOC received 3,811 religion-based complaints in fiscal 2012, the second-highest level ever and just below the record 4,151 in 2011” (Trottman, 2013, p. 1). In another article Study: Workplace Religious Discrimination on the Rise by Mike Ward lists similar number of religion-based complaints. The article by Trottman mentions that the EEOC has filed religious-discrimination lawsuits against companies in the fast-food, hair-salon, aviation, hotel, retail, medical and health-services industries. A recent case that the article mentions is about Muslim woman who worked at Abercrombie and was fired by the manager because her hijab violated

The religious discrimination lawsuits filed in federal court with the EEOC indicate that there were employees who believed their religious rights were not being protected. For example, Omari v. Waste Gas Fabricating Co. was a 2005 9/11 backlash case. Omari, a Muslim from Algeria, filed a claim with the EEOC for discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation under Title VII. Omari claimed that he was repeatedly called “Osama, terrorist, cave dweller, camel driver,” and was accused of making bombs and questioned as to whether or not he knew how to drive a plane into a building. Omari rejected the accusations and tried to explain that he was not an Arab, but the comments did

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.

Legendary boxer and famous figure for the Muslim community, Muhammad Ali once said: “The word 'Islam ' means 'peace. ' The word 'Muslim ' means 'one who surrenders to God. ' But the press makes us seem like haters.” As Ali points out the United States public today has criminalized the religion of Islam and this has caused discrimination on the structural level. Citizens in the United States expect that they are not subject to marginalization and be treated equally. Instead what Muslim constituents are finding is that they are being treated unfairly by law enforcement. Undermining the laws of the United States sets a dangerous precedent for the future. Thus it is absolutely crucial that the United States federal

The Meatpacking Factory is a case study involving the decision of a factory manager to let his Muslim workers observe their faith by taking breaks at sunrise and sundown during their holy month of Ramadan. James Windham, the factory manager, thought their request was well warranted and felt he should be considerate of the religious beliefs of his employees. There are about 100 Muslim workers which represents 20% of the employee population at the factory. To Windham’s dismay, the breaks began having a significantly negative affect on productivity due to the ever shifting sunset and sundown times. Trying to accommodate a constantly changing schedule left Windham struggling to nail down a

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

Thus, it will be very helpful to see an actual issue of workplace discrimination toward Muslim women and the practice of hijab, as well as treatment and recommendation. Since my research topic is about discrimination against specific race or religion, Civil Rights Act of 1964 is an essential and base policy that could solve the issue (“Civil Rights Act of 1964”). Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is more recent policy that protect employees from any kinds of workplace violence ("Workplace Violence Prevention Policy"). However, Muslim women have still experienced workplace discrimination and job stress, so my research would help to make these acts more influential or create a better policy through overall workplace situation and Muslim

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