Recently, California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) issued a “Religious Discrimination and Accommodations at Work” fact sheet. This fact sheet provides an overview of religious discrimination protections in California, including how they apply to job applications and interviews, how employees are protected in the workplace, and examples of unlawful treatment and potential accommodations for an applicant’s or employee’s religious beliefs. This fact sheet seeks to help prevent religious discrimination in the workplace and is not mandatory for employers to distribute or display.
In recent years, the CRD has investigated hundreds of religious discrimination complaints in employment, securing over 80 settlements for workers since 2020.
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2012 (WRFA) protect California employees from experiencing religious discrimination and harassment in the workplace, as well as requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations for applicants’ and employees’ religious beliefs. These protections also include interns and volunteers.
Under California law, even the perception of an employee’s or applicant’s religious beliefs, or association with someone (i.e. a friend or family member) who has, or are perceived to have, a particular religious creed or belief are covered.
Religious discrimination or harassment in the workplace can take many forms. The CRD’s examples include:
- Mocking an employee by making loud noises to disrupt them when they are engaged in silent prayer in the breakroom.
- Passing over a qualified employee for a promotion based on religious stereotypes about having large families and potentially making requests for parental leave.
- Refusing to let a Jewish person wear a Star of David necklace when other jewelry is allowed.
- Changing an employee’s shift to an undesirable time because the employee complains that certain music played during work hours goes against their faith as a Jehovah’s Witness.
The CRD also provides examples of religious accommodations that employers can provide, including:
- Scheduling a job interview to avoid conflict with the applicant’s prayer time;
- Scheduling an employee such that their day off coincides with the employee’s attendance at religious services or observance of their holy day; and
- Permitting an employee to deviate from the employer’s dress code or grooming standards to align with the employee’s religious practices.
As with reasonable accommodations related to an employee’s disability, when an employee requests a religious accommodation, the employer is obligated to engage in the interactive process with the employee to explore potential accommodations.
If employers think a religious accommodation may cause an undue hardship, they should consult legal counsel.
Shannon N. Claire, J.D., Employment Law Subject Matter Expert, CalChamber
CalChamber members can read more about Religious Discrimination in the HR library. Not a member? Learn how to power your business with a CalChamber membership.
