reply to the students response in 150 words minimum and provide 1 reference question Jason works for a car rental agency. Part of his religious observance is to pray several times per day.  He approac

reply to the students response in 150 words minimum and provide 1 reference

question

Jason works for a car rental agency. Part of his religious observance is to pray several times per day.  He approaches Supervisor Jan with a request for two additional 10-minute breaks per day in order to engage in prayer.

Student response

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment practices based on an individual’s race, color, national origin, sex, or religion. The term ‘religion’ includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business. (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman, 2019, pg. 544).

The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment. Jason in this case study has not been discriminated against, but rather he is making most of his co-workers uncomfortable with his religion. This is a form of undue hardship to his co workers and the retail store as a whole. In Title VII, the prohibition against religious discrimination is not absolute. An employer can discriminate against an employee for religious reasons if to do otherwise causes the employer undue hardship. When the employer discovers a religious conflict between the employer’s policy and the employee’s religion, the employer’s first responsibility is to attempt accommodation. (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman, 2019, pg. 547). Supervisor Jan seemed like he has accommodated Jason for a while and now there is complaint from other employees of how it is introducing undue hardship. After an employee or prospective employee notifies the employer or labor organization of his or her need for a religious accommodation, the employer or labor organization has an obligation to reasonably accommodate the individual's religious practices. A refusal to accommodate is justified only when an employer or labor organization can demonstrate that an undue hardship would in fact result from each available alternative method of accommodation. The New York Times reported that a survey of 743 human resource professionals by the Society for Human Resource Management indicated that the most common religion-related issues among employees are employees proselytizing (20 percent), employees feeling harassed by co-workers’ religious expressions (14 percent), employees objecting to job duties (9 percent), and employees harassing co-workers for their religious beliefs (6 percent).

In Vargas v. Sears, Roebuck & Company,89 the employer attempted to accommodate the Hispanic employee’s Native American religious belief involving letting his hair grow. The employee’s wearing his hair in a ponytail violated the employer’s appearance policy. The employer suggested tucking the ponytail inside the employee’s shirt or jacket, but the employee refused to even consider it and provided no suggestions of his own. The court held that the employee had not shown that the employer failed to attempt to accommodate the religious conflict and the employee’s termination was upheld. This is similar to Jason’s case in the sense that there is undue hardship to the company and other employees, also there is some form of accommodation from the employer.

There are no set rules about what constitutes undue hardship since each employer operates under different circumstances. What may be hardship for one employer may not be for another. What constitutes an undue hardship is addressed by the EEOC and courts on an individual basis. (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman, 2019, pg. 550).  Supervisor Jan should talk to Jason and let him understand that his attitude at work is bringing undue hardship to the other employees. Jan should also talk to the HR department to see if they can accommodate Jason to move his bible studies to after working hours. Unless it would be an undue hardship on the employer's operation of its business, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices. If the accommodation is deemed an undue hardship and will substantially harm the morale of other employees, reduces efficiency in other jobs, infringes on the rights of other workers, creates safety concerns, or requires coworkers to take on extra work that is burdensome then the finally decision is to fire Jason.

Bennett-Alexander, D and Hartman, L. (2019). Employment Law for Business. McGraw Hill Education. (pg. 544,547 & 550)

U.S EEOC. (2019). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Retrieved from www.eeoc.gov

The New York Times. (2019). Human resource management survey on religion and workplace. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com.