Religion in the workplace
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An employee has asked if he and a few fellow co-workers can hold a bible study group meeting during their lunch break.
They are salary non-exempt employees, and their lunch is unpaid time. They would hold it in a conference room in our facility, away from other co-workers. We live in Wisconsin.
Do you see any problems with that?
They are salary non-exempt employees, and their lunch is unpaid time. They would hold it in a conference room in our facility, away from other co-workers. We live in Wisconsin.
Do you see any problems with that?
Comments
Thanks for your interesting question about religion in the workplace. That has been a very hot topic as of late, and in fact, I just finished writing an Executive Special Report on that very issue. Law center members will receive this report free next month. If you are not a law center member, don't dispair. You can order a copy of the report on this website.
As for your question, I need a few more details to give you a good answer. If you are a public employer, for instance, my reply will be different. Assuming that you are a private employer, there are some issues you may want to consider before letting employees use your room to have a lunchtime bible study. Problems may develop if supervisors request, demand, or otherwise coerce employees into attending the session. And you may have to watch out for subtlties like supervisors giving good marks to employees who attend and bad marks to employees who don't. The second thing to beware of is discrimination. Once you allow one group to meet in a company room during lunchtime, you will need to allow all sorts of groups, and this could include union organizers, satanic cults, gun clubs, etc. In fact, if you allow this group to do it, you could be sued if you refuse to allow a group to study the Qu'ran, and so on. So, you might to watch out for that.
I am interested to hear from others on this forum as to how they have approached this issue.
Take care,
Anne Hunter Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers
Author of "Ten Commandments for Avoiding Religious Harassment and Discrimination Claims"
Good luck!
Also, we have an employee who attaches a proverbs quote to the end of e-mails. Is the any minefields to consider when telling that employee to discontinue the quotes in e-mails?
As a pubic employer you have the Constitution to consider, mainly the establishment clause. I would tread very lightly in allowing employees to use government resources (rooms, lights, chairs, phones, etc.) to hold their Bible study classes. This is opening your department up to the potential beef that you are using state funds to support (establish) religion.
As far as allowing an employee to quote the Bible on messages and e-mails, I think you have the same problem. A person receiveing such a message may think it is the government's view, not that of a particular worker, and that can get very hairy.
Our recent special report: Ten Commandments for Avoiding Religious Harassment & Discrimination Claims, discusses a case where a court found that a company was right in disciplining an employee who refused to stop ending all transmissions with "Have a Blessed Day". If you are a law center member, you can access this report for free on this website. If you are not a law center member, call 800-274-6774 to find out how to become one!
Anne Hunter Williams
Author: Ten Commandments for Avoiding Religious Harassment & Discrimination Claims
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC
Just something to think about.
I could forsee non-participating employees who might be uncomfortable with religion or have had negative experiences making comments about the "Bible Thumpers" or "religious wackos" meeting in a company conference room. Allowing or inviting that type of tension is a can of worms I would avoid.
While an off-grounds site is probably better, I would allow the group to advertise their meeting on the company bulletin board.
About 6 or 8 months ago we had a few casual bible study meetings occur between two employees in a room separate from our breakroom during their lunch hour. A couple of times their alternate space was not available and it did cause some friction because employees who had not "signed on" for the conversation were included anyway. The pair lost interest after a small number of meetings so we didn't have to go further at that time. Were they to start again, our response would have to be a carefully communicated "no." While it is nice to provide employees with opportunities to do things that are important to them on their own time, sometimes a line has to be drawn.
Good luck!
Jessica