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1. FEATURE STORY:
EMPLOYERS GET RELIGION

Just because sex and race/national origin discrimination garner all the headlines doesn't mean that you needn't concern yourself with discrimination of the religious kind. On the contrary, the EEOC has reported that as many as 18% of employees express their religious beliefs at work and that 9% of their co-workers find the activities harassing — making religious discrimination and harassment very real workplace concerns.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act — which covers employers with 15 or more employees — prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of their religion. EEOC guidance further clarifies that employers may not treat employees more or less favorably because of their religious beliefs or force workers to participate in or refrain from participating in religious activity as a condition of employment. Title VII also requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious beliefs unless doing so would cause "undue hardship." Under Title VII, an accommodation rises to the level of an "undue hardship" if it costs employers something beyond inconvenience, e.g., efficiency losses, economic costs, or health and safety concerns.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act (H.R. 1445), which was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Mark E. Souder, intends to take the accommodation requirements of Title VII even farther. The Act amends the Civil Rights Act by requiring employers to make an affirmative and bona fide effort to accommodate employees' religious practices unless it would create an undue hardship. The Act proposes to define
"undue hardship" to require "significant hardship or expense" as measured by the following factors:

• the cost to the employer (including the loss of productivity and retraining or transferring employees from one facility to another);

• the overall financial resources and size of the employer; and

• difficulties that arise for employers with several facilities as a result of distance and administration.

Although the Workplace Religious Freedom Act is not yet a law, if and when it does pass, it will mean that employers will have to go to greater lengths to accommodate employees' religious beliefs. It also means that employees will have much more power to exercise their religious beliefs in the workplace, making employers' responsibility to keep the workplace free from religious discrimination and harassment that much more difficult. But don't wait for the Workplace Religious Freedom Act to pass to minimize religious bias; take the following steps right now.

• Make sure that both your discrimination and harassment policies cover religion.

• Respond promptly to any complaints of religious discrimination/harassment by launching an investigation.

• Make every effort to accommodate employees' sincerely held religious beliefs and practices, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.

• Never refuse to allow employees to engage in religious expression if employees are permitted to engage in other personal expressions at work, unless the religious expression is blatantly offensive.

• Advise managers and supervisors not to proselytize at work. Proselytizing aimed at a subordinate may be perceived as religious harassment.

HOW FAR CAN EMPLOYEES GO TO PROTECT THEIR PRIVACY?

Identity theft and the potential revelation of a medical condition to co-workers are fears that are all too real to employees. This may cause some workers to take a stand against legitimate...View the full story on our website.

FREE REPORT OF THE MONTH:

Check out the Free Report, "Disaster Preparedness: No Organization Is Immune," which helps you to prepare your people, your facilities, your policies and procedures, and your data and resources now for a potential crisis that could occur later. Don't wait for a disaster — natural or man-made — to befall your organization. Sound the alarm for your company and put a disaster preparedness plan in place.

Kick back, relax, and take a few minutes to check out the new HR Soapbox, "Bullying In Reverse," in which an editor reveals the secrets of subordinate bullies and tells you how to put those employees in their place.