Religious Activity in the Workplace

susan macias

Our organization is a small, private, not-for-profit healthcare system. We in HR recently became aware that our Director of Home Healthcare has been inviting his staff to attend weekly Bible Study sessions in a like-minded staff member's office.
The sessions are scheduled to start about half-hour before the workday begins and end at 8am, when business begins for the day. We have also learned that frequently,the sessions go over the allotted time and some attendees are late to their assigned work stations. I sense problems here. Does anyone else? Thanks.

Down_the_Middle

Yup..... And having been in your exact shoes, b/4, I'll sahre with you what worked for me. I would chat with the Dir Home Healthcare and raise their awareness that this is an employer problem when employees are not required to be at their workstation at the appointed time. Religious activity in the workplace should be limited to accommodating employee's religious beliefs. When you allow this pre-work activity to infringe upon work time, it's a problem. The b/4 work sessions are ok AS LONG AS they do not extend into working hours. It's up to the Director to ensure this. It'll likely be the last conversation you have to have on this subject.

System

The director is creating a serious risk of your organization being sued for religious discrimination or harassment. A subordinate might feel coerced to accept the director's invitation, especially since you're in a small organization.

And things can get really ugly down the road if the director ever gives a promotion or choice assignment to someone in his Bible group. Then an employee who's not in the Bible group might claim that the director illegally based his decision on religion.

As for Bible study making employees late to work, you need to treat it strictly as an attendance problem. Treat them the same as when any other employee is late for non-religious reasons. And tell the director to stop contributing to the attendance problem.

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Mike Maslanka

if the supervisor does not see the light(so to speak),and you end up firing him,do not do what a florida company did in a similar circumstance...on the termination form,where it said,reason for temination,one word was written in big,bold letters:"RELIGION"...