EEOC Releases New Publications on Employee Religious Garb, Grooming

Author: Beth P. Zoller, XpertHR Legal Editor

March 17, 2014

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released two new publications instructing employers with regard to employee religious garb and grooming in the workplace: a lengthy Question and Answer Guide as well as a Fact Sheet on religious discrimination and accommodation. The EEOC notes that this guidance comes after a marked increase in the number of religious discrimination lawsuits.

The guidance explores employees' requests for reasonable accommodations with respect to religious dress and grooming practices, including:

• Wearing religious clothing;
• Observing religious prohibitions against wearing certain types of clothing; and
• Religious requirements with respect to hairstyles and facial hair.

Specifically, the Question and Answer Guide examines a variety of issues, such as:

• The parameters of federal law and Title VII with respect to religious dress, grooming, practice and belief;
• What to do when an employer questions whether an asserted religious practice or belief is "sincerely held";
• An employer's obligation to provide a requested accommodation to its dress and grooming practice based on an individual's religious practices;
• An employer's right to deny an employee's request with respect to a religious garb or grooming practice if granting the accommodation would pose an undue hardship for the employer;
• An employer's right to prohibit an employee's religious dress or grooming practice based on workplace safety, security or health reasons; and
• An employer's obligation to prohibit retaliation and harassment against an employee based on religious practice and request for religious accommodation.

The Question and Answer Guide also provides an employer with a number of practical examples to assist in interpreting the EEOC's guidance, such as:

• What to do when an employer has a uniform policy and an employee requests a religious accommodation;
• Whether an employer is permitted to make a decision based on customer preference;
• How to handle facial hair in the workplace;
• The conflict between an employer's policy requiring headgear for safety reasons and an employee's need to wear a religious head covering;
• Whether an employee should be permitted to bring a weapon (e.g., a knife or kirpan) to the workplace as a symbol of his or her religious belief; and
• How to handle co-worker harassment.

Based on previous case law, the EEOC clarifies that:

• If an employer grants a request for a religious accommodation to its dress code, it may still enforce its dress code for other employees who do not request an accommodation for religious reasons;
• An employer may not deny an employee's request for a religious accommodation based on co-worker jealousy or customer preference;
• An employer may not assign an employee who requests a religious accommodation with respect to dress codes and grooming to a noncustomer-contact position; and
• An employer may deny an employee's request for a reasonable accommodation based on safety, security or health concerns only if the employer can establish an undue hardship.

The Fact Sheet provides an employer with basic information as to how federal employment discrimination law applies to religious dress and grooming practices and explores:

• Title VII' s prohibition on treating an employee differently based on his or her religious belief and practice;
• The prohibition on segregating or assigning an employee to non-customer-contact positions based on his or her religious garb or grooming practices;
• An employer's obligation to provide a religious accommodation unless doing so would pose an undue hardship; and
• An employer's obligation to prohibit retaliation and harassment based on religious beliefs and practices.

In commenting on the recently released publications, Renee C. Mattei Myers, Esq., a Partner at Eckert Seamans, states the following: