As you might imagine, discrimination based on an employee’s religion or religious beliefs is prohibited by law in the workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) outlines what religious discrimination is as well as the different ways it can occur. Today, we will examine religious discrimination in the workplace so you know what to look for if you believe you have been discriminated against.
The law governing religious discrimination protects employees and job applicants who practice traditional religions, such as Judaism, Catholicism, Islam and others as well as people who have steadfast religious beliefs, morals and ethics.
Employers are not permitted to discriminate against employees or applicants based on their religion when it comes to hiring, firing, assigning jobs, pay, training, promotions, fringe benefits, layoffs or any other type of term of employment.
Employers cannot assign an employee to a job that has zero contact with customers because of the religious apparel they wear or the grooming practices they employ due to their religion. This also includes refraining from doing this practice based on fear of what the customer might think or say.
Employers must also provide employees flexible scheduling, job reassignments, voluntary substitutions for their shift and other options to help the employee practice their religion, which is known as reasonable accommodation.
Your religious beliefs are important to you. You should never be discriminated against, harassed or otherwise bullied at work for those beliefs. You also should not be fired, demoted, reprimanded or have your salary reduced for taking time off from work for a religious holiday.
