What Constitutes Religious Discrimination?

Religious discrimination occurs when an employee is treated unfairly due to their religious beliefs and practices. They may also have requested accommodation for their religion and been denied by the employer.

These are some more examples of religious discrimination in the workplace:

• You were not chosen for the job based on your faith or lack thereof
• You were fired after observing a religious holiday or Sabbath
• Someone was promoted for going to church every week
• Someone was transferred to a behind the scenes position because they wear religious garb
• You were punished for talking about religion while you were not on the clock or were on a break
• You noticed someone was being harassed due to their religion
• You were told you were violating the dress code for wearing religious clothing
• Another employee tried to convert or “save the soul” of someone of a different religion or of someone who was an atheist
• You were denied religious accommodations of any kind or asked not to display religious items while other employees of different religions are permitted to do so

If any of the above has happened to you, we recommend that you contact us, as you have experienced religious discrimination. This type of discrimination comes in many different forms, so your experience may not have been listed. You will want to communicate with us so we can determine what laws were broken in your unique case.

Your Employer is Required to Provide Accommodation

Your employer is required to provide religious accommodations, even if you have not asked for one. For example, if you are considered to be breaking the dress code while religious garb, actions taken against you at work would be against the law. According to the Supreme Court, religious clothing should always be assumed to be an accommodation, without you having to ask.

What You Should do After Being Denied Accommodation

If you have been continuously denied accommodation after submitting a polite written request to your employer, you will want to consider filing a grievance. If you are part of a union, you can also file this through the union.

For those who can not resolve this issue on their own, we are here to help. We can offer advice as well as our religious discrimination legal services.

Can Your Employer Prevent You From Observing Religious Days?

They can not. You will want to let your employer know in advance of any days that you observe for religious purposes. It helps if you give them this information in writing, so that you can save a copy in case religious discrimination takes place.

Your employer is required to make those accommodations, as long as they are reasonable. This includes time off for the Sabbath or other observed holy or religious days. You may want to make up the time or work out some other situation with your employer. It is important that the two of you communicate beforehand.

At the end of the day, your employer is not allowed to stop you from observing religious days, no matter the religion you are a part of.

Undue Hardship

If your employer can demonstrate undue hardship on the days you need off, they are not required to accommodate your religion. For example, if your employer does not give you a day off because no other employees are available to cover your shift, this would not count as religious discrimination. However, they will need to inform you of their reasoning.

After hearing their reasoning, you will want to consider whether or not it sounds truthful. You may want to consider talking with your coworkers to determine if no one actually has off. There have been cases of employers faking undue hardship in order to not give someone off for their religious holiday. This would be considered religious discrimination.

Religious Accommodation Retaliation & Application Screening

Retaliation can occur and it does count as religious discrimination. This is when an employer takes action against you after you asked for religious accommodation of any kind. You would be protected under laws were this to happen to you.

The act of retaliation does not need to happen at the workplace or while you are on the clock. It can occur at any time. It does not need to be successful either- as long as there was an attempt to retaliate against you, it counts.

These laws also apply when seeking jobs. You can not be denied work or a chance at an interview for your religion. For example, you observe Sabbath from Friday at sunset until Saturday at sunset. During an interview you were told you would not be considered for the position because you would not be available during those days- this is religious discrimination.

The law protects you during application screenings. Employers are not allowed to remove someone from the process because they can not work on certain days. They are not allowed to ask about your availability on specific days during hiring.

They should always state the normal working routine. From there, you can let them know what days you can and can not work. You should never be removed from the hiring process for your religion.

Call Bear Republic Law Today

Religious discrimination occurs when an employer treats an applicant or an employee differently due to their religious beliefs. If this has happened to you, you are protected under the law. It is essential that you contact a California lawyer right away if you would like to receive compensation for damages.

We don’t get paid unless you do. Get a free consultation, contact us today.