Editor’s note: Our office frequently receives questions on legal matters of concern to our members. This new column is intended as general information on some of the frequently asked questions, and does not take the place of legal advice.
In this country, one of the religious freedom challenges that Seventh-day Adventists often encounter concerns workplace accommodations for Sabbath observance. Fortunately, your union Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department is available to assist you if you experience Sabbath accommodation issues. And there are laws designed to protect your rights as an employee.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides certain protections so that employees can observe their sincerely held religious beliefs. Title VII requires that employers with 15 or more employees reasonably accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious belief unless an accommodation would pose an undue hardship to the employer.
Examples of religious accommodations that have been provided by employers include making exceptions to work dress codes for employees who, as part of their religious practice, either refrain from wearing certain items (such as women in some faith traditions only wearing skirts) or desire to wear religious articles while on the job (such as a religious head covering). Another area where accommodations are often sought and granted deal with changes to work schedules for religious observance through flexible scheduling, voluntary shift substitutions or job reassignments.
However, Title VII does not require an employer to make an accommodation if doing so would pose an undue hardship to the employer. An undue burden has been defined as anything that would impose more than a minimal burden for the employer. Employers have been excused from having to provide an accommodation when they’ve shown that the accommodation would be costly, compromise workplace safety, decrease workplace efficiency, or infringe on the rights of other employees. Unfortunately, this broad interpretation of undue hardship has been particularly harmful for religious minorities seeking accommodations, including Seventh-day Adventist employees, because the burden on the employer is set at such a low bar.
The definition of undue hardship though is likely to change in the coming weeks because of the recent Supreme Court case, Groff v. Dejoy. In this case, a postal worker was forced to choose between keeping his job and observing his religious day of rest. Many believe that the court is likely to revise its definition of what qualifies as an undue hardship as part of its decision, and hope that a higher standard of what constitutes undue hardship, such as one that imposes a “significant difficulty or expense,” will be adopted moving forward.
If you are facing workplace issues because of Sabbath observance, you should reach out to your pastor or your union PARL department who will be able to assist you.
For more information about Title VII’s religious accommodations or services PARL provides to help with accommodation requests visit:
Jennifer Gray Woods is the Lake Union’s general counsel, as well as its Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director.
Editor’s note: Our office frequently receives questions on legal matters of concern to our members. This new column is intended as general information on some of the frequently asked questions, and does not take the place of legal advice.
