Religion in the Workplace: A Guide for the Indiana Employer

What is it?

In light of recent changes in the *law regarding religion in the workplace, employers have good reason to reassess their employment policies and practices regarding religious discrimination and accommodation. Employers should take this opportunity to review their current policies and re-educate their workforce – both supervisors and non-supervisory employees – as to these policies. Throughout the guide, the authors have endeavored to provide a resource to successfully navigate the challenges of religion in the workplace. Protect your organization and encourage a culture of inclusion!

By following the tips provided in the guide, employers may avoid exposure or limit their exposure to religious discrimination, harassment, and failure-to-accommodate claims.

This guide features:

• Best practices for avoiding key points of failure when balancing competing interests
• Explains the new standard for evaluating requests for religious accommodations
• Provides updated statistics and case examples and highlights new aspects of religious discrimination and accommodation employers may not have encountered in years past
• Flowcharts for determining whether an instance represents religious discrimination, as well as determining whether an employer has taken all steps to provide a religious accommodation, other than what would pose an
  undue hardship to the employer’s business.
• Sample policies

*Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits various forms of employment discrimination, including discrimination because of religion.  Such protection requires accommodation of all aspects of religious belief, observance and practice, unless an employer can show that such accommodation would cause an undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.  For decades, courts and the EEOC have instructed employers that the undue hardship standard could be satisfied simply by demonstrating “more than a de minimis cost” to the employer.  However, on June 29, 2023, in Groff v. DeJoy, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected such standard as contrary to the statutory language of Title VII, holding instead that undue hardship under Title VII can be shown only when a burden is substantial in the overall context of an employer’s business. Under Groff’s higher standard, upon receipt of a religious accommodation request, employers covered by Title VII must now conduct a more stringent fact-specific inquiry into all factors relevant to how substantial the burden would be in the context of the employer’s overall business, including the particular accommodation at issue and its practical impact.

This guide will help employers apply the currently-evolving standards under Groff to identify required religious accommodations, as well as help employers maintain workplaces free of religious discrimination and harassment. Get your copy of this ePub!

How many pages is it?

Over 65 pages of easy-to-read text that includes everything employers need to know to deal with religious issues in the workplace. View the table of contents.

Who wrote it?

A team of attorneys from the Indiana-based law firm of Ogletree Deakins.

Who should order this product?

• Business owners
• Company presidents
• CEOs
• Employee relations specialists
• General managers
• Human resource professionals
• Personnel managers
• Supervisors
• Anyone interested in being in compliance!

When was this guide published?

This guide was released in March 2024.

How to order?

To order, add this guide to your shopping cart or call customer service at (800) 824-6885.

For more information on the law firm of Ogletree Deakins, go to http://www.ogletreedeakins.com.