Citing changing demographics and a steady increase in complaints from people of faith, a federal agency has released an updated compliance manual on religious discrimination in the workplace.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued the guidance July 22 after consultations with religious groups, employers and labor organizations. The number of religious discrimination charges reported has more than doubled over the last 15 years.
“The goal here is to promote voluntary compliance, to get everyone on the same page, to let them know what the law is,” said David Grinberg, a spokesman for the agency. “We want to stop discrimination before it starts.”
The new manual provides safeguards for workers who request time off for religious observances and protects workers whose faith requires specific religious garments — such as a hijab, a head covering worn by some Muslim women.
Muslims have faced the sharpest increase in workplace discrimination of any major religious group in recent years.
Between 1997 and 2007, the number of discrimination charges filed by Muslims more than doubled, from 398 to 907. That figure peaked at 1,155 in 2002, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Although religious discrimination charges increased 13 percent nationally in 2007, the total number of complaints from Jews and Seventh-day Adventists have declined in the past decade, while Catholics and Protestants have reported only a gradual increase.
The manual, which applies to any business with 15 or more employees, consolidated the results of recent litigation and policy pronouncements by the agency.
In a statement released July 23, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, which consulted with the agency prior to the report’s release, praised the manual, but said more work still needs to be done.
“Religious Americans can spend a majority of their day in their workplaces, and the need to accommodate their religious needs is essential to each person’s freedom,” said Nathan J. Diament, the group’s director of public policy.
Allegations of religious discrimination still make a small fraction of the total number of complaints reported each year. Last year, just 3.5 percent of cases handled by the agency were religious in nature. (RNS)
Share with others: