From
The KDDK Advantage - May 2006
Religious Expression in the Workplace
By Tom Magan
According to a study cited by the Equal
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), as many as 18 percent of
U.S. workers express their religious beliefs at work,
and nine percent of their co-workers find this religious
expression harassing.
Under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act, if it permits other types of personal expression
at work, an employer must permit the expression of religious
views while making sure religious harassment of other
employees does not occur.
Below are general guidelines regarding
religious expression in the workplace:
- Companies should have a clear workplace
anti-discrimination policy that covers religion. The
EEOC gives guidance on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.
- An employer should begin investigating
immediately when an employee objects to a co-worker’s
religious expression.
- If it is clear that the religious
expression is abusive, the employer should intervene,
even if the employee has not voiced an objection.
If it is not clear that the religious expression is
abusive but the employer thinks the target of the expression
might feel harassed, the employer should ask the employee
if he or she feels harassed.
- The employer has a right to object
when an employee targets a customer with religious expression.
- If corrective action is taken in the
workplace, the action should be applied consistently
throughout the place of business.
- Managers and supervisors should be
careful about sharing their religious views or trying
to convert subordinates. This might be viewed as threatening
or coercive, and could lay the groundwork for charges
of religious discrimination.
Evansville native Tom Magan has
practiced employment and labor law at KDDK for more than
35 years. This report is based in part on information
released by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington,
D.C., on Dec. 7, 2005.
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