It's Yom Kippur. Do You Care Where Your Employees Are?

by Hara Marks

I'm not at work today. Did I skip work to: March in a Columbus Day parade? Worship the Jewish High Holiday of Yom Kippur? Watch soap operas? None of your business. And none of my employer's business either. An increasing number of companies are allowing employees to take off time for any reason they wish, be it a religious holiday, a family emergency or just to relieve stress -- without the employee having to specify the reason for the time.

Increased attention on religious diversity in America is one factor that has led many employers to offer flexible time off and flexible work schedules. Within the workplace, employers are showing their sensitive (and practical) side by offering prayer rooms, special meals, and tolerance of a variety of religious garb.

What are steps that HR can take on the path towards good employee relations and legal compliance in the area of religious accommodation? Human resources consultant and president of the Pauker Consulting Group, Anne Pauker says raising awareness of religious diversity is the first step. Practically speaking, she advises employers of three areas on which to concentrate their efforts:

• vacation time
• flexible work arrangements
• on-site accommodations

Revising the time-off system

"Many companies are going to a system that gives employees a block of time to use for any purpose," Pauker says. Consultant and president of The Herman Group, Joyce Gioia also sees the growing trend. "A comprehensive time-off system is better for companies and employees," Gioia tells HRWire .

One of her clients had a problem with absenteeism and tardiness, Gioia says. "With the new system, absenteeism went down dramatically. Before, people who had the sniffles might not have come in to work. Now, people who can still work but are sniffling will come in."

The Allstate Corporation, the Illinois-based insurance company, is one company turning to an all-inclusive vacation plan. Allstate HR consultant Stephanie Perez says that as of next year "with the new cafeteria plans, people get all their days off in one bucket. They don't have to explain any of their days off."

Brian Bartlow, also of the Allstate diversity/work-life team, says efforts to accommodate religious diversity have been part of Allstate's 10-year diversity program. "For the last two years, I've made a calendar with all religious holidays -- including associated dietary concerns -- and distributed it on the Intranet," he explains. "The calendar is more than information. We're informing, educating, and reinforcing -- if someone has a religious obligation, they must be accommodated if it's reasonable."

Employment attorney Norman Davis of Steel Hector & Davis says "right now, only a minority of employers offer a lump sum vacation package. But I urge them to do so. It simplifies matters. They should get away from the notion of sick time, vacation time, and personal time. Employers ought to have one time-off block for any purpose. When the employees runs out of that, they must take an unpaid leave of absence."

Companies will probably never move away from the standard corporate holidays -- many of which are federal holidays, too. Pauker notes that the only religious corporate holiday left is Christmas. "Private companies may choose to have Good Friday off, but that's a vestige of the old system that is changing," she says. However, at Allstate, Perez says, the company is currently conducting a survey inquiring as to whether even the traditional company holidays should be placed in the "optional" bin.

Flexible work arrangements

As with a non-specific time-off package, flextime is a general work/life balance benefit that also helps with the religious accommodation angle. Pauker says employers should "allow people to swap days or work different hours if necessary."

A flexible schedule "can be the ace in the hole for smaller employers," Gioia says. "They are finding that having that flex time is a retention tool that makes a profound difference."

HR should also take into account less obvious aspects of scheduling work. "Another issue is scheduling major meetings around religious holidays," Pauker says. "Be careful not to schedule meetings with food during the daylight hours of Ramadan, for example."

Bartlow says he finds that "most flexible work arrangements are not that intrusive. People may need to leave a few hours before sunset."

On-site accommodations

Many companies are recognizing that religious duties sometimes overlap with the timing of the working day, and leaving work would be an inconvenience for observant employees. Pauker says employers have told her they've seen employees praying in their cars. To better accommodate the needs of these employees, Pauker suggests multi-purpose rooms. "These can be used for clubs and other groups, as well as for prayer," Pauker tells HRWire. "One concern employers have is that if they allow employees to use a room for religious purposes, they might have to allow them to use the room for union-organizing purposes."

But this argument practically answers itself, Pauker says. "Companies usually address that concern with common sense -- if they create a better working environment with these accommodations, there is much less incentive to form a union." Some organizations offer meditation rooms, "serenity" rooms or even spirituality centers, with emphasis on non-sectarian spirituality, of course.

At Allstate, "management simply finds a room for prayer or accepts the fact that the employee will be leaving early," according to Bartlow.

Michael Karpeles, a principal employment attorney at Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom & Moritz, says religious garb can usually be accommodated as well. "As long as it works with the corporate image, if it is an employee wearing a uniform, religious headgear would be permitted," Karpeles says. "Someone in a back office should be able to wear anything."

Legalities and compliance

Companies do have to look at the costs involved for any accommodation, Pauker says. "Does this involve a substitute? Hiring an extra person to make up for an employee leaving at 3? Will there be a disruption in business operations?"

But with the advent of flexible work arrangements on a wide scale, Pauker says it would be difficult for an employer to make a case that a requested accommodation was not reasonable. "All a plaintiff would have to say would be something like 'the handbook emphasizes the work/life balance, so this request must be reasonable' and the employer would lose."

Pauker adds, "The issue of reasonable accommodation diminished with the recent emphasis on staffing and retention."

Regardless of the tight labor market, Davis says that employers must not be hasty in providing accommodation. "Employers must weigh the circumstances. Everything depends on the size of the business, the nature of the work, the ability to readjust schedules," he tells HRWire. "I caution employers to think through any accommodation very carefully because every time you make an accommodation, it sets a precedent. That's the number one difficulty in workplace accommodations, whether it's for religion or the ADA."

Legal changes

Karpeles notes that pending legislation in the House would amend Title VII to clarify what undue hardship means to an employer. Currently, Karpeles says, an employer can claim that a religious accommodation would create an undue hardship (and therefore they are exempt from providing that accommodation). If the expense is anything more than minimal though, "pay for a substitute employee would probably qualify as a de minimis expense," Karpeles tells HRWire.

If passed, the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2000 would change the definition of "undue hardship" to "an action requiring significant difficulty or expense on the conduct of the employer's business," making it harder for businesses to claim undue hardship as a defense.

The bill also states that an employer must engage in an affirmative and bona fide effort to accommodate the employee's request for a religious accommodation before pleading undue hardship. On the employer's side, however, the bill would prohibit requiring payment of premium wages for work performed during hours to which premium wages would ordinarily be applicable if work is performed during those hours only to accommodate religious requirements of an employee. In other words, an employee making up hours on a Sunday due to work missed during the week for a religious observance would only be entitled to his or her normal wage.

Attitude problems

HR should also be aware that flex time, vacation schedules and prayer rooms may be easy to manage, but what's not so easy to manage are the attitudes of coworkers, Pauker says. Religious harassment and discrimination cases are on the rise, Karpeles notes. All experts agree that fostering an atmosphere of respect goes a long way toward improving coworker relations. Davis offers some tips on creating such an atmosphere. "Training managers is fine, but HR needs to train supervisors too, and hold them accountable for their conduct," he says. Additionally, he recommends "all the clichŸs. Improve overall communications, implement effective grievance procedures and offer Q&A sessions."

Allstate's Bartlow says "No one blinked when we sent out the calendar with the religious holidays outlined. One person complained about reverse discrimination, but there's always someone."

And lastly don't forget, freedom of religion means freedom from religion too. Six Ohio firefighters recently said they would file a federal lawsuit because their chief ordered them to attend a church service. The firefighters allege that the chief warned them that they faced disciplinary action for insubordination if they did not go to the church's Civic Appreciation Day at which they were to receive awards. The American Civil Liberties Union is taking up the case. The message for HR? Tolerance, communication, accommodation are critical; anything smacking of coercion or preference involving religion in the workplace is anathema.

This article is courtesy of HRWire. All rights reserved.