Whether it’s Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of ‘Izzat or the Coptic New Year — September’s upcoming religious observances may require employers to provide religious accommodations.
Requested accommodations for religious observances around the year can range from time off and scheduling changes, to dedicated prayer rooms, to allowing changes in uniforms, to excusing workers from using preferred pronouns such as “they” rather than “he” or “she.”
“We’ve also seen requests for religious exemptions from mandatory vaccination policies, particularly during the pandemic,” said Dawn Solowey, an attorney with Seyfarth in Boston. “In recent years, we have seen requests for exemption from diversity training, using co-workers’ pronouns, and participating in events such as Pride Month. And we have seen requests for religious exemptions from using AI in the workplace.” Many of these issues are being litigated.
Article: Pope’s AI Warning Raises Questions About Religious Accommodations
Religious accommodations have been a priority for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently. There have been many lawsuits over denied religious accommodations.
Under Title VII, employers must provide reasonable accommodations for employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances unless doing so would impose an “undue hardship” on the conduct of the employer’s business.
So, what is an undue hardship?
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified...
The Singapore Embassy in Jakarta denied unfounded social media claims that two Indonesian public figures visited the Singapore ambassador's residence on oct. 18. According to The Straits Times, th...