Title VII prohibits religious discrimination--that means your employer may not discriminate against you "because of" your religious beliefs. This also prohibits harassment based on your religious beliefs as well as retaliation against you for complaining about religious discrimination or for participating in someone else's religious discrimination case.

The religious discrimination laws have three separate protections:

• Your employer must make reasonable efforts to accommodate your religious beliefs and practices in the workplace;
• Your employer may not impose its religious views on you or permit your co-employees to impose their religious views on you; and
• Your employer may not take adverse action against you (including harassment) because of your religious beliefs.

The duty to accommodate

If you follow a recognized religious faith, and your faith requires you to engage in certain practices or wear certain types of clothing while in the workplace, your employer must make reasonable efforts to accommodate you. That means allowing you to wear a religious head covering or engage in prayers, as long as the practice does not place an undue burden on your employer. Typically this means your employer must accommodate you unless it would be prohibitively expensive for it to do so, or your religious practice would interfere with the operations of your employer's business or present a safety hazard. For example, if you work with heavy machinery, your employer may prohibit you from wearing long or flowing robes if it can show that your clothing poses a real safety hazard.

Imposing religious views

If your employer, or other employees, has strong religious views, the law prohibits them from imposing their religious views on you in the workplace. Although individuals must be allowed to practice their religion, they have no right to impose it on others. Thus, the law prohibits employer practices such as requiring you to attend prayer meetings, and it also prohibits your co-employees from publicly engaging in worship if their worship interferes with your ability to work.

Discrimination

Like the other anti-discrimination provisions of Title VII, your employer may not take an adverse action against you based on your religious beliefs, whether it involves denying you a job because of your religious beliefs or disciplining or discharging you because of your faith. For more information about the rights and remedies available to you if you've been victimized by religious discrimination, please see our discrimination page.

If you suspect that your employer has discriminated against you because of your religious faith, you don't have to turn the other cheek; call us at 1-877-JOB JUSTICE (1-877-562-5878) or email us. One of our experienced religious discrimination attorneys can help you eliminate religious discrimination in your workplace.