Religious Discrimination in New York
Posted by Tamara
Some employees take smoking breaks. Others take breaks to enjoy a coffee and doughnut.
Why, then, should a New York employee not be allowed to use the break time to practice his or her religious belief?
That is one useful approach employees could take when a worker wishes to take time during the day for a prayer break.
Employers in almost every case must allow Muslim employees to take prayer breaks. It is federal law, in particular Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating based on religion. As a federal law, Title VII applies in New York as well as other states.
Employers must, under the rules of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, allow for religious expression in the workplace. There have been a number of court cases supporting this interpretation.
Only what the law describes as “sincerely held” religious beliefs fall under the law. In other words, an employee who claims to be a member of the “Church of the Long Coffee Break” is probably not sincere. Workers who pretend to be Jewish one week, Muslim the next, and Christian the third in order to get more holidays off are not likely to be protected by the law either.
As the law is written, employers must make “reasonable accommodations” for workers who wish to worship in the workplace, provided such accommodation does not create an “undue hardship” on that employer.
A “reasonable accommodation” is one that would not involve an excessive cost. For example, if a Muslim employee took short prayer breaks, it is unlikely that this would constitute a hardship. On the other hand, if the employee’s breaks demanded that the employer hire a second worker (an unlikely scenario), that could constitute an undue hardship.
Providing loose-fitting long uniform pants for Muslim women rather than short skirts would be a reasonable accommodation. Providing $10,000 designer wardrobes would be an undue hardship.
Followers of the Islamic faith are required by their religion to pray, facing east, five times a day.
Companies already offer breaks. What a worker does during that break is his or her business.
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