Religious Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace

Each year, the Church State Council assists literally hundreds of workers who face discrimination in the workplace due to their religious beliefs and practices. Many of these claims are by Seventh-day Adventists who seek to observe the seventh-day Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, and to refrain from secular employment during those hours.

As a result, the Church State Council and its staff have become well respected for their expertise in religious discrimination issues.

Religious discrimination comes in many varieties. Sometimes, the problem is as simple as a scheduling matter, where an employer seeks to schedule a worker in conflict with their religion. Many conflicts arise over religious appearance issues, such as a headcovering, a cross around the neck, or other religious expressions. Some workers face humiliation, harassment and hostility due to their religion, a form of religious intolerance akin to racism. Others face retaliation when they assert their rights to be free of religious discrimination.

Both Federal and state laws outlaw religious discrimination in employment. These laws give workers a very short time period to file formal complaints of discrimination.

Below is a list of generic sample letters to help with religious accommodation needs. Please CONTACT US directly for more information regarding specific Religious Accommodation help or information.

• Certified Religious Accommodation Request
• Failure to Hire Sample Letter (Written by Applicant)
• CALIFORNIA- Failure to Hire Sample Letter (Written by Applicant)
• Failure to Hire Sample Letter (Written by Pastor)
• CALIFORNIA- Failure to Hire Sample Letter (Written by Pastor)
• Employment Testing Sample Letter
• Ways to fight back while still employed
• Current Member Sample Letter
• New Member Sample Letter
• Sundown Sample Letter
• Member Previously Accommodated Sample Letter
• CALIFORNIA-Member Previously Accommodated Sample Letter
• Sample Letter for Verbal Dismissal
• Failure to Hire
• Sample Letter for Pastor Regarding Sabbath Accommodation
• Follow-up to Accommodation Request Sample Letter

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the Federal agency charged with enforcement of workplace discrimination and harassment. Their website has very helpful materials about the law, designed in part, for non-lawyers. Check out the section on RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION,

http://www.eeoc.gov/types/religion.html

as well as the recently released Compliance Manual which has specific examples and materials designed especially to help companies comply with their legal obligations,

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/religion.html.

If you need to file a charge of discrimination, instructions on how to do this are found here:

http://www.eeoc.gov/charge/overview_charge_filing.html.

If you want the Church State Council to assist you with your religious discrimination claim, you must send us a copy of the filed charge, and participate in an intake interview with our staff.