Do your company's hiring practices comply with federal regulations regarding religious discrimination? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) obligates employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of employees and prospective employees, unless the employer demonstrates that accommodation would result in undue hardship on the conduct of its business.

Two Common Trouble Areas

Employers typically run afoul of the rules in two ways. First, an interview, test or other selection procedure might be scheduled at a time when a prospective employee cannot attend because of his or her religious practices. Be aware that employers are obligated to accommodate such an applicant unless undue hardship to their business would result. Very few circumstances would pass this undue hardship test. The easy solution here is to maintain scheduling flexibility in hiring practices.

Second, during the interview an employer might inquire about an applicant’s availability to work during the employer’s scheduled working hours. Most of us would probably regard this as a perfectly reasonable question. But if in response an applicant expresses a need for a religious accommodation, then the employer may be subjected to a claim of religious discrimination if the applicant is not offered a job. That is, an issue may arise as to whether the employer permitted the applicant’s need for a religious accommodation to in any way affect its hiring decision.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) views such pre-selection inquiries as having a direct and exclusionary effect on the employment opportunities of persons with certain religious practices. Such inquiries will be considered to violate Title VII unless the employer can show that it (1) Did not have an exclusionary effect on its employees or prospective employees needing an accommodation for the same religious practices; or (2) Was otherwise justified by business necessity.