What Companies Can Do When Work and Religion Conflict

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Since 2007, the number of complaints for religious discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has risen significantly. It’s not hard to see why: An increase in immigrants of diverse faiths, greater workforce diversity, and the globalization of business all play a role in more workers from different religious backgrounds meeting on the job. For many employers, it is only a matter of time before they face conflicts between religion and work.

To resolve such conflicts, managers must frame the issues carefully and consider the long-term effects of their decisions. How they act can either improve morale by affirming an inclusive culture or it can suggest that religion is merely tolerated — and possibly invite litigation.

Consider what happened recently at a Cargill facility in Fort Morgan, Colorado. While some of the facts remain unknown, it appears that 11 Muslim workers of Somali descent wanted to pray at the same time in one of the two rooms at the plant set aside for prayer and reflection.

How exactly this request was handled is in dispute. According to one version, the workers’ supervisor asked them to go in smaller groups in order not to disrupt production on the assembly line. Another version claims that management had decided to cut down on prayer breaks. The workers prayed in small groups and at the end of their shift, 10 of the 11 quit. Ultimately, 150 Muslim workers missed work for three days in protest, and Cargill fired them for failing to inform the company that they would be absent. About 130 of the fired workers have filed a complaint with the EEOC.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits, among other things, religious discrimination in any facet of employment. Not only must employers not treat workers differently based on their religion, but when a conflict arises between a religious practice and a workplace policy, employers must also try to accommodate the employee.

Employees have a responsibility to give their employer notice of an actual conflict and work with their bosses to reach an accommodation. The burden on the employer is not very heavy: Any accommodation cannot be unreasonably expensive, compromise workplace safety, decrease efficiency, or require other employees to do more than their share of dangerous or burdensome work. Moreover, an accommodation does not have to fit the employee’s ideal scenario or even match what the employee asked for.

Workers and employers alike have incentives to reach a compromise. Otherwise, they are both likely to suffer. In Fort Morgan, the once-tight-knit immigrant community is in turmoil as families and neighbors leave. And Cargill still has not been able to fill all of the Muslim workers’ vacant jobs.

To prevent disagreements over religious accommodations boiling over into conflict, companies can take several simple steps:

Make the equal treatment of all employees regardless of traits like religion a mandate. Of course, the law prohibits different treatment based on religion. But including the tenet of equal treatment and respect in the firm’s code of ethics demonstrates the company’s commitment to a culture of inclusion.

Regularly remind workers of the importance of that tenet and consistently enforce it. Show employees that the code of ethics is not just something that lives on paper.

Review and refine policies for different religious practices. These include time or days off for observances, dietary restrictions, and dress codes.

Anticipate staffing needs and factor them into any policy or accommodation discussion in order to identify limits and possible areas of flexibility. The Cargill facility had specific staffing requirements on the assembly line. Other types of business can anticipate staffing and productivity issues, for example, during tax season, earnings reporting, or the holiday retail rush.

Conflict avoidance and ethics aren’t the only reason to work toward solutions to religious accommodations. A recent study shows that workers who feel religiously comfortable in the workplace have higher job satisfaction. And, as Noelle Nelson demonstrates in her book Make More Money by Making Your Employees Happy, higher job satisfaction among employees leads to greater profitability for the employer.

As Cargill and other employers are discovering, faith is a part of the whole person that employers ignore at their peril.

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