Religious Expression in the Workplace

4.4 Religious Expression in the Workplace

Controversies: 3.17, 5.14 Key Words: equity, religion, Muslim, state government, First Amendment rights Case Complexity → Moderate CD: 4.31 Citizen-Client-Customer

You are the chief of the County Division of Vehicular Licensing, with 1,250 employ- ees located at three offices. The director of the District 2 office approaches you about a thorny problem—what to do about providing employees who are Muslims

a suitable time of the day to worship. The problem began on October 30 when the state shifted from Central Daylight Savings Time to Central Standard Time. As it turns out, the “fall back” of the clock pulled the Muslim sunset prayer back into the work hours.

A group of Muslim coworkers requested that the District 2 office allow them to conduct their sunset prayer at 5:00 p.m. The office closes at 6:00 p.m. The group said that they would be willing to work from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. to make up for the time lost.

Th e director is unsure what other districts have done and does not know if state or county laws require public agencies to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs.

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It is, of course, clear to all that public agencies cannot promote religious beliefs and practices, but this is not quite the same thing.

As the division chief, you inform the director that other district offices have not faced this issue before. Moreover, state law is reasonably clear—employers (public and private) must accommodate employees’ religious beliefs as long as the requests are reasonable and do not create a hardship for the agency.

Discussion Questions

1. Is the request by the workers reasonable?

2. Would shifting the sunset prayer hour to 5:00 p.m. create a hardship for the District Office of Vehicular Licensing? (Remember that the primary work of the District Office is to issue licenses to the public on a first come, first served basis.)

3. Would agreeing to the request be viewed as favoritism toward one group of employees? If so, would this create morale problems?

4. What recommendation would you, as division chief, make to the district director?

Case Assessment

John Hamp, Lieutenant at the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Florida:

Th is case involves at least two primary issues: accommodating the employees with their religious prayer and continuing service to the public. District 2 poses the issue that certain Muslim coworkers want an hour for sunset prayer, which is at 5:00 p.m. The district office closes at 6:00 p.m. State law requires employers to accommodate employees religious beliefs as long as it does not create a hardship for the agency.

As the chief of the State Division of Vehicular Licensing, I would fi rst gather information on exactly how many employees would be

affected by the religious prayer in District 2. I would also find out how many employees would want the same opportunity in the other five districts so as to keep policy consistent and uniform. If there are a lim- ited number of employees per district requesting the one hour of prayer to the point where the particular district would not feel a hardship, then policy would be set that these employees may use the one hour prayer at 5:00 p.m. and return to work at 6:00 p.m. and work until 7:00 p.m. I would get a report from the district directors to determine if this one hour shift in work will hinder production and/or service.

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Issues to consider: What is the job function the employee holds at the district? If the employee serves the public, then the employee working from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. would be a waste as the agency would be closed. Can the district office still serve the public adequately with the loss of the employees involved for the one hour? And if the employees involved make up the hour between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., would they be doing constructive work or just staying the extra hour?

Each district would have to determine the maximum amount of staffing it could afford to have leave for one hour for the prayer. If the number of employees exceeds this maximum number, then those with seniority will be given the opportunity for the prayer and those at the cutoff point will have to wait for an opening or may be given the option of transferring to another district if there is an opening.

I believe this method will accommodate as many employees as pos- sible and still maintain business practices of serving the public, though there is the understanding of the possibility of not making everybody happy.

James D. Slack, Professor, Department of Government, University of Alabama at Birmingham:

Th e first right in the First Amendment pertains to religion—a reflection of both the centrality of religion in the American community and the Founders’ concern for protecting this value. The case study deals with the Free Exercise Clause, which states that “Congress shall make no law … prohibiting the free exercise [of religion].” The U.S. Supreme Court “incorporated” the Fourteenth Amendment into the Free Exercise Clause in Cantwell v. Connecticut in 1940 and, thereby, its protection extends to actions taken by state and local governments. Further, Title

VII of the Civil Rights Act requires the same kind of accommodation for religious expression as it does for nonreligious expression. The legal issue centers on this: the employee does not have to incur more than

de minimis cost, but those costs must be real and not speculative. The ethical issue centers on what is fair for Muslims in comparison to what is fair for non-Muslims.

It is important to understand that each religion is unique and can affect the workplace differently. For instance, the Sabbath is on differ- ent days for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Most public workplaces are structured to accommodate the Christian Sabbath (Sunday), but not necessarily the Sabbaths of Islam (Friday) or Judaism (Saturday). The same is with prayer. While Christians and Jews can pray at their own discretion, practicing Muslims are required to pray five times a day. Hence, the director of District 2 will soon be faced with more issues

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about work day prayers—not just the required “sunset” prayer but also the required “noon” prayer and “mid-afternoon” prayer. Further, the director will have to consider providing an acceptable space for these workplace prayers. Unlike in the Christian and Jewish faiths, more structure is required with Muslim prayers: (1) rather than simply fold- ing one’s hands and closing one’s eyes, a Muslim must kneel and lean forward so that his or her head is touching the ground; (2) the Muslim must pray in the direction of the Kaaba—a sanctuary built by Abraham and Ishmael, located in the Haram mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia;

and (3) women and men must pray in separate spaces. All this is to suggest that the ethical resolution will be much more complicated than simply the issue of flex-time at the end of the day.

I would encourage the director to do the following: (1) He or she should learn more about Islam by talking to the Muslim employees about all aspects of worship that could potentially require workplace accommodation. (2) He or she should then contact an Imam—a prayer leader—at a local mosque to affirm the positions taken by the employ- ees. The Imam should reflect the Islamic sect represented by the Muslim employees in the Division of Vehicular Licensing, so several Imams may have to be contacted. (3) The director should then examine the kinds of accommodations possible and weigh those against the real costs that extend beyond de minimis status. Must prayers last a full sixty min- utes? (The answer is “no.”) Are two (one for men and one for women) spaces available? Answers might be found in an office that could be used temporarily or even an open area in a somewhat unused hallway)? Can the noon, mid-afternoon, and sunset prayer times be staggered slightly to accommodate practicing Muslims while maintain effective workplace services? (The answer usually is “yes.”) How will providing such accommodations disrupt the workplace? (Discussion and explana- tion will be needed with all employees, and a memo of understanding/ expectations must be sent to all employees once an accommodation is determined.)