What Are My Rights Against Religious Discrimination?
The workforce is now composed of employees with a range of religious beliefs as well as pagans. Just like in other States, some California employers make decisions based on the job applicant or employee’s faith. Though there are instances where being treated differently due to a particular belief may be lawful, in most of the cases, it’s always unlawful. Unfortunately, employers tend to discriminate against employee either because they perceive they belong to or hold a certain belief. In other instances, an employer can discriminate against an employee since they are connected to someone who has a certain belief. If your employer has discriminated against you due to your faith, you need to know your rights.
Understanding Religious Discrimination In Workplace
Religious discrimination is treating employees differently because they hold certain religious beliefs or have requested a change in their workplace rules due to religious beliefs or practices. Someone can be said to have a particular belief or religion either because of the type of clothing they wear, their way of praying, wearing unique items, among others. For instance, if an employer requests a background checks for Catholics or Muslims only, then this may be religious discrimination. Religious discrimination can take many forms. Such as:
- Harassment: This includes being made fun of due to your religious stand such as wearing hijabs, yarmulkes etc.
- Firing/Wrongful dismissal based on your religion
The Federal law (Title VII) of the Civil Rights Act is there to ensure employees are not discriminated against in the workplace. The law not only protects anyone who has a traditional organized religion such as Muslim or Judaism but any employee who has sincerely held on to their religious beliefs or practices. If you have been denied work or are being treated unfavorably because of your religious beliefs, you may have a claim. To understand how to go about it, you can look for a top employment attorney in Orange County.
How Do I Recognize Religious Discrimination?
An employee can detect any forms of religious discrimination in two ways:
- When the employer is treating them differently from others due to their religious beliefs
- When an employer fails to provide reasonable accommodation
For any religious discrimination to succeed, you must show that you were treated differently from other employees because of your religion. In some instances, this is direct. For example, if an employer keeps on commenting that he/she cannot promote a religious employee since they don’t decide on their own, this may amount to religious discrimination. Nevertheless, some cases are hard to provide evidence, and one may require a legal representative to evaluate and determine whether there may be a religious discrimination case.
Reasonable Accommodation For Religious Beliefs
The California labor law requires employers to make reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs to ensure employees exercise their religion comfortably. It’s not the duty of your employer to know you need a reasonable accommodation. You should communicate and work together to have a plan that will work for you. The plan should not provide undue hardship to your employer. Meaning, the employer should not have a burden of cost towards the business, such as incurring unreasonable expenses, harming the morale of the company or creating unnecessary safety hazards. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reasonable accommodation can only be impossible if doing so would create an undue hardship to the employer. There are many types of a reasonable accommodation to be provided by an employer. Some of them include:
- Making changes in your job if it conflicts with your religious conflicts. For instance, scheduling work to ensure a seventh-day employee doesn’t work on Saturdays.
- Use of company facilities: An employer should provide a private space for employees who want to pray or observe their religious rituals during the workday.
- An employer may provide time off for religious holidays or breaks.
- An employer doesn’t have to restrict religious expression more than they do to other activities with a similar impact on workplace efficiency.
If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your religion, you should talk over the issue with your immediate supervisor or manager. Ask questions of why you were not promoted like other employees. It’s only through asking questions can you learn whether whatever was done was lawful or unlawful. If your manager is not ready to explain, then this gives you more power to push for justice. You should file an internal complaint; this provides the company with a chance to investigate whether your claims are valid. If nothing seems to work, you may have reasonable grounds to file a religious discrimination claim. You can look for an experienced employment lawyer to help you determine whether you have a case and also guide you on what may be needed to file your discrimination lawsuit.