Religious Accommodations: Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs

Employers typically should assume that a request for religious accommodation is based on a sincerely held religious belief. However, if the employer has a valid and objective reason to request more information from an employee or to doubt the validity of a request, they may ask additional questions, tailored for the individual assessment being conducted.

The EEOC identified the following factors that might undermine the credibility of an employee's claim:

  • The employee has acted inconsistently with the professed belief. However, the EEOC said, "employees need not be scrupulous in their observance."
  • The employee is seeking a "particularly desirable" accommodation that is likely to be sought for nonreligious reasons.
  • The timing of the request is suspicious. For example, the employee may have recently requested the same benefit for secular reasons and been denied.
  • The employer otherwise has reason to believe the accommodation is not sought for religious reasons.

According to the EEOC, when an employer requests additional information, employees should provide information that addresses the employer’s reasonable doubts.  That information need not, however, take any specific form. An employee who fails to cooperate with an employer’s reasonable request for verification of the sincerity or religious nature of a professed belief risks losing any subsequent claim that the employer improperly denied an accommodation. EEOC Guidance, Section 12: Religious Discrimination.

If you have questions about assessing an employee’s request for religious accommodations, please contact HR Partners at 785-233-7860.

The HR Partners Holiday Video - 2023

We appreciate your business, and we wish you nothing but the best for Christmas and the New Year holidays.

2024 will be an epic year and we can’t wait to work with you to continue the magic.

To view the video, click the image below or click here, and once you see the video on Vimeo, please click the play button. Enjoy!

 Christmas Video 2023

 

HR Advisor Newsletter

What our clients say...

MRH Insurance Group, Inc.

Ross T. Hendrickson

President
MRH Insurance Group, Inc.

"I want to thank you and your team again at HR Partners for your amazing work in securing a high-quality Customer Service Representative (CSR) for our Topeka MRH Insurance Group office.

Without a doubt, if it were not for your company’s ability to understand the different paths to communicate our need, we would not have been successful in securing, in our opinion, the very best CSR in Topeka. HR Partners was instrumental in providing the strategy to secure such an individual for our company and my workings with each and every member of your team was professional and impressive.

I shall ever be grateful for your assistance in helping our company grow in Topeka and northeast Kansas by securing the right MRH Team Member for our operation."