Religious Discrimination
The freedom to believe and practice one's own religion was one of the founding principles of our nation. The First Amendment protects everyone's right to freedom from government coercion and repression of religious beliefs. But it wasn't until 1964, when Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passed, that employees in the private sector were protected from religious discrimination in the workplace.
Title VII prohibits employers from making decisions based on an employee's or applicant's religion. Employers are also required to provide reasonable accommodations to allow employees to practice their religion, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. The articles below explain what religious discrimination is; which beliefs count as "religious," and are therefore protected under Title VII; and what types of accommodations an employee might reasonably request at work.
Employers may not discriminate based on religion and must reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs.
An employer must accommodate employee religious beliefs, unless it would pose an undue hardship.
Find out how to recognize religious harassment -- and what to do about it.
Learn how to recognize -- and fight -- workplace discrimination based on religion.
Employers may not discriminate based on an employee's sincerely held religious beliefs.
Employers must make reasonable accommodation for an employee's religious practices.
Employers must accommodate their employee's religious beliefs, but not at the expense of other employees.
A Muslim employee asks about accommodations for daily prayers.
A reader asks who wins when an employee's religious garb doesn't comply with an employer's uniform requirement.
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