Managing Conflict Between Religion and Human Resource Management Legal/Ethics: Hobby Lobby
Introduction and Purpose
In Matters of Faith: Make a Good Faith Effort to Accommodate, Patricia Digh writes, “Religion is often an important aspect of a person’s identity” (shrm.org). She continues, “Religious devotion and diversity are on the rise in the United States, and the combination of these trends is creating new challenges and new demands for employers. As a result, handling employees’ future requests for religious accommodation may require Human Resource (HR) professionals to demonstrate greater sensitivity, tolerance and understanding of various religious beliefs”
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The research material on this topic almost exclusively focuses on the topic from the employee perspective with regard to Title VII. Existing laws clearly protect the individual worker. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of l964 ("Title VII") provides clear guidelines on an employer’s responsibility to its employees regarding religion. It “prohibits employers, except religious organizations from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment. Title VII also requires that employers “reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee or prospective employee, unless to do so would create an undue hardship upon the employer” (adl.org).However, what happens when we consider the reverse? What happens when the employer itself puts faith first? What reasonable accommodations must the company or their employees make then? Moreover, what do they look like in practice?
“Religion in the American workplace is among the most contentious and difficult areas for employe...
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...ators intervene in Hobby Lobby case, urge justices to deny ObamaCare exemption. Fox News. Retrieved February 3, 2014, from http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/28/dem-senators-intervene-in-hobby-lobby-case-urge-justices-to-deny-obamacare/
Sarantinos V. (2007). Flexibility in the workplace: What happens to commitment? Journal of Business and Public Affairs. Volume 1, Issue 2. Retrieved from http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1159.pdf
Sebelius v.. (n.d.). Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius Lawsuit Facts and Information : The Case. Retrieved February 4, 2014, from http://www.hobbylobbycase.com/Home/TheCase#.UvGYQbSkKZE
Shore, J. (2014, January 30). Christian Companies Want to Own Your Body. The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 8, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-shore/christian-companies-want-to-own-your-body_b_4681852.html
In accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, any hiring, terminating, and other terms and conditions of employment utilized as means of religious discrimination against an employees is prohibited. Unless, the workers religious request was causing their employer undue hardship. These acts are mandated that employers reasonably accommodate their full time employees’. Reasonable
This example of a Supreme Court case shows that the court is not above politics. Even though most Americans, including government officials, practiced some form of Christianity, the judges were not willing to compromise the information in the Constitution for the popular beliefs of individuals. I agree with the Supreme Court in its decision to ban the practice of prayer in public schools. Not only does it violate the Constitution, but it encroaches on our freedom of thought and action. Being excluded from a public classroom because of personal beliefs does not sound just.
Hill points out that all of these topics are in today’s business market. They should be addressed and recognized by Christians today. For most people, their work is a key factor in their self-worth, family esteem and identity. Workplace ethics and behavior are a central part of employment, as both are aspects that can help assist a business in its efforts to be gainful. Every business in every industry has certain guidelines and procedures to which its employees must follow. We must always remember that no matter who you are, where you come from, or where you are going, you are no better than the next person, when it comes to making mistakes and sinning. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans
Hobby Lobby is fighting up the Supreme Court ladder to ensure that they do not have to provide contraception coverage to its many employees in their 560 different stores across the United States.
The Court held that failing to accommodate a potential employee or an employee was enough to bring up a disparate treatment claim. It held that in order to make a claim based on disparate impact the plaintiff needs only to prove that the need for accommodation was the motive behind the employer’s refusal to hire them, not whether the employer knew about this need. Therefore, the Court determined that rather than imposing a knowledge standard, like the 10th Circuit Court did, motive was enough to violate Title VII since Abercrombie knew or suspected that Elauf wore the headscarf for religious reasons and did not want to accommodate her. “An employer may not make an applicant’s religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions” (EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch, Inc., 2015). Finally, the Court held because of the description that Title VII gives for religion, it places religion as a protected class and therefore asks that it be given favored treatment over other
Butler, J., Balmer, R., & Wacker, G. (2008). Religion in American Life : A Short History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
First, it is imperative to comprehend the implications of the case Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby. This court case is still in litigation and pertains to the Fourteenth Amendment, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), religious freedom, and woman’s access to contraceptives. The ACA requires all insurance companies to cover forms of female birth control. The ACA also requires l...
Religion is a subject that should be treaded on lightly during an interview. Questions regarding religious preference cannot be asked. An interviewer cannot even ask the question of “Which religious holidays do you observe?” instead if the in...
Because of the diversity and impact that religion has on the lives of Americans, the individual belief should be treated as equal, not t...
I have read many articles from outsiders reporting on the Muslim faith. But I have never read an article more incorrect and damaging than the piece done by Robert Holstrom "Muslims or Demons". Robert Holstroms' article details the belittlement and atrocities afflicted towards Islamic women by Muslims. Mr. Holstroms' presents followers of the Islamic religion as militant drug dealers and mercenaries, which perpetrate their ideas while using false Islam, foreign money, and opium to get their way.
Snider, M. A. (2004). Viewpoint discrimination by public unversities: student religious organizations and violations of university nondiscrimination policies. Wash. & Lee L. Rev., 61, 841
Better off Without Religious Accommodation in the Workplace The saying, “Life isn’t fair,” is one that most people started hearing at a young age, but as Religious Accommodation in the Workplace continues to become more of a worldwide debate in break rooms, more employees are experiencing that saying first hand. The opposing side of the argument uses “Life not being fair” as a way to show their side of the argument; however, they believe the say shouldn’t be allowed to be used while in the workplace (Religious Accommodation: Holidays). Work is a time where everything should be equal and fair, yet a large amount of employees see the unjust and unfairness almost daily. From when a Muslim employee needs five prayer breaks during their shift to complete their essential prayer duties, or when Jewish people need every Saturday off due to the worshipping of the Shabbat from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.
The concept of flexibility has permeated much of current human resources management thinking, providing justification for recent developments in more flexible and variable working patterns. Its need arises from the following:
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. (2002, October). Religious discrimination – Accommodating differences in the workplace. Retrieved from: http://www.vssp.com/CM/Articles/articles871.asp
Discrimination based on or derived from religion has been a cause of significant suffering. Prejudice directed against people based on their religious beliefs, practice, identification or association has resulted in a wide range of discriminatory practices. Prejudice and discrimination based on religion continue to be problems even in countries that otherwise has achieved a high level of religious diversity. Prejudice based on religion has been used to justify discrimination against those with different religious beliefs, individuals of various ethnicities, those who are not exclus...