1-844-234-5122 (ASL Video Phone) I am a Seventh-day Adventist, and I observe the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. how the accommodation will help resolve the conflict between your religious beliefs or practices and a university policy, procedure, or other requirement. According to new guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employers can push back when there is: HR may speak with supervisors and inquire about whether the person talks about religion at work or has ever asked for specific days off. Sign it in a few clicks Any academic unit may issue additional or more specific information that is consistent with approved policy. Monitoring the Religious AccommodationBecause changes occur, student affairs representatives and employers may need to periodically check on the ongoing effectiveness of religious accommodations. Explain that, under the doctrine of a certain belief in your religion, you cannot perform certain actions, such as shaving your beard or working on Sundays, for example. As you consider these examples, you may find it helpful to review How to Disclose a Disability and Request Accommodations in the Workplace on JANs page for Individuals, which also provides more information about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Each request is individually reviewed by . Depending on the circumstances, some examples of workplace accommodations may include: providing a woven cloth mask or personal protective equipment (PPE); physical distancing or modifying the work environment; modifying work schedules; RA ensures equal opportunity in the job application, examination, and hiring processes that will enable a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in those processes, and perform the essential functions of the job. 4. Consider the request. Students and employees must generally submit religious accommodation requests annually. As a starting point, JAN offers general guidance about writing an accommodation request letter, which lays out possible elements to include in the body of the letter. Thank you in advance for accommodating my request. Financial Hardship Examples, Samples and Articles, Writing A Hardship Letter Religious Accommodation Discrimination, Writing A Hardship Letter Property Repairs. Homewood Housing Requests:The university recognizes that student observance of their faith may require special consideration for housing assignments. Exploring Religious Accommodation OptionsOIE will consider reasonable religious accommodation requests on a case?by?case basis and consider factors, including but not limited to the: OIE will endeavor to protect the requesting student or employees privacy in evaluating and processing the accommodation to the greatest extent possible. Make sure that you make it very clear what it is that you cannot comply with and why. Please note that all such forms and policies should be reviewed by your legal counsel for compliance with applicable law, and should be modified to suit your organizations culture, industry, and practices. Some examples include: Permitting a student or employee to take a particular day or time period off for a religious holiday; Permitting flexible scheduling; and Providing a student or employee with a time and place to pray. If the employer discovers the employee lied, then the employer has an additional factor to consider. PO Box 81489 Middlesex, NJ 08 Fax Number: Your accommodation request will be reviewed by your . the type of workplace and the nature of the employee's duties, including whether the employee requesting a religious accommodation to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement works outdoors or indoors . The EEOC published a sample form that employers can use for religious accommodation requests from workers, which have risen as Covid-19 vaccine mandates proliferate in the workplace. For instance, state that there is a company policy in place that requires you to do certain things that are not acceptable within your religion. The Sabbath is sacred to me and I devote these hours to God. For Academic accommodations requests, students should seek to make arrangements with the appropriate professors first at the earliest opportunity. Pursuant to DoDI 1300.17, Accommodation of [Company Name] is committed to providing equal employment opportunities without regard to any protected status, and a work environment that . On [enter date or dates] we will be observing [name of holiday]. A request for a religious accommodation for housing must document: a description of the accommodation you are requesting; employee-religious-exemption-november-2021 Download Vaccine Religious Exemption Find your nearest EEOC office I realize the need for this requested accommodation is still a few months away, but I wanted to make arrangements in advance so that we can discuss it and plan. 2. Similarly, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires an employer to accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious beliefs or practices unless . "Each of the manufactures of the Covid vaccines currently available developed and confirmed their vaccines using fetal cell lines, which originated from aborted fetuses. Members can get help with HR questions via phone, chat or email. (3) A request for the accommodation of religious practices may be granted in whole or in part. else if(currentUrl.indexOf("/about-shrm/pages/shrm-mena.aspx") > -1) { Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on religion. The Interactive Process can begin in a number of ways. There are also Kosher retail items available for purchase at theCharles Street Market (Char Mar). I anticipate this arrangement would be necessary for only 5 or 6 weeks, or until the sun starts to set after 5:00 p.m. Questions regarding applying for housing should be directed to Housing Operations at (410) 516-7960 or housing@jhu.edu. Reasonable religious accommodation requests will be made on a casebycase basis taking into account factors including but not limited to: nature of the accommodation requested; duration of the request; timeliness of the request; alternative accommodations; financial impact; academic impact; and other related factors. The hiring manager had assured her that [] Once a religious objection to taking a vaccine is established, an employer has a duty to accommodate that religious belief up to the point of undue hardship. Students are required to check their course syllabi at the beginning of the semester, make any conflicts with religious/cultural observances known to their professors, and discuss arrangements for missed classes or assignments. Any such request must be in a typed, legible, and double-sided letter. Your signature An employer must try to arrange to allow the employee to meet these religious obligations. Make accommodation policies clear, and apply them equally even if the employer has never heard of the religion. If employees have submitted a request for reasonable or religious accommodation due to the inability to comply with mandatory testing, they may request permission to remain off work, using their own leave credits or . The letter should make it clear that you are requesting reasonable accommodation in view of your religious beliefs. To permit me to have Sabbath off once or twice a month would not suffice as a reasonable accommodation, since it would still force me to choose between my religion and my job. Dear Professor [last name], I am enrolled in your course [course number]. Bunting noted that companies that previously placed employees on unpaid leave when they declined COVID-19 vaccinations for religious reasons are now bringing them back to the workplace. The purpose of an accommodation request is to allow the requesting employee to perform certain job duties, either in their current role or in a position they are seeking. Religious Accommodation Request Resolution Employee (identified below) has requested an accommodation related to a religious belief, practice, and/or requirement. Please give this request consideration at your earliest convenience. If accommodation is easy, do it," said Kelly Dobbs Bunting, an attorney with Greenberg Traurig in Philadelphia, speaking at the SHRM Employment Law & Compliance Conference 2022on March 30 in Washington, D.C. To request permission for specific items, click on the reuse permissions button on the page where you find the item. Particular considerations for different accommodation types include: A request for a religious accommodation for housing must be made before housing is requested. For religious exemptions toimmunization requirements, students should submit along with their requests: Please email your request, your letter to President Burwell, andaletter from a leader of your faith community (or a request for consultation with the University Chaplain)to president@american.edu. If the student does not belong to a religious community that could provide this letter,the student should indicate this in their letter and request a letter from the University Chaplain after due consultation with the University Chaplain. Religious accommodations can take many forms. Once OIE has all supporting documentation, it will strive for a 5 business day turnaround. OIE may need to discuss the nature of the religious belief(s, practice(s), and accommodation(s) with a student or employee's spiritual leader (if applicable) or religious or philosophy scholars to address the request for an exception. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. No attorney-client relationship is created by using the templates. As such, I am unable to {work on Sunday mornings, shave my beard, etc.}. Sabbath Accommodation - Sundown Request - Employee Letter, Seventh-day Adventist Publications on Church - State Subjects. SAMPLE REQUEST FOR RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION [EMPLOYMENT] Dear [HR Department]: [Employer] has directed me to get vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, or suffer adverse employment action, up to and including termination. Whenever possible, such requests should be submitted no less than 30 days in advance of the desired accommodation. Gain the intel you need now to successfully anticipate and navigate employment laws, stay compliant and mitigate legal risks. Once OIE has all supporting documentation, it will strive for a 5 business day turnaround. For example, if an employer has to hire a temporary worker to cover Saturdays for an employee who misses shifts then for religious reasons, there might be an undue hardship in accommodating the employee, she said. Please note:To receive a religious accommodation, the religious observance must be one required by one's religious tradition. Some examples include: 4. $(document).ready(function () { To have your request for a religious academic/workplace accommodation considered, please review the following process: 1. var temp_style = document.createElement('style'); For instance, your company may have a certain dress code that you cannot adhere to, expect you to work on what is classed as a day of rest in your religion, and so on. Employees, as well as job applicants, may request a religious or reasonable accommodation from an employer requirement that conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs, practices or observances. The Department's reasonable accommodation policy is outlined within Personnel Bulletin 21-03 Processing Requests for Reasonable Accommodation for Individuals with Disabilities. religious accommodation is met with resentment and jealousy by co-workers it is still a viable solution. A letter from a religious leader of the faith community to which the student is a member stating the need for an exemption. For that reason, I am requesting a religious accommodation, under Title VII and any similar [state where employer located] state law (s), that will excuse me from having to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and further request that no adverse employment action be taken against me on account of my religious beliefs. When we met with you, we discussed what type of accommodation you . Request for Religious Accommodation . The description of the [modified/alternate] employment is as follows (include description of accommodation here): This is a temporary accommodation, not. SHRM Employment Law & Compliance Conference, Montana's governor made vaccination status a protected category, How to Push Back on Religious Accommodation Requests, New OSHA Guidance Clarifies Return-to-Work Expectations, Trump Suspends New H-1B Visas Through 2020, Faking COVID-19 Illness Can Have Serious Consequences, White House Takes Action Against Migrant Child Labor, Antisemitism Fears, Incidents Are Rising in the US, Federal Lawmakers Propose Ban on Noncompete Agreements. This is false. Employers can request additional information when religious accommodations are requested, Bunting noted. You should consult an attorney for legal advice specific to your . On [enter date or dates] we will be observing [name of holiday]. Questions #1-7: Basic Information Questions 1 - 7 require . I identify as an observing [religious affiliation], and I am writing to request that you make accommodation for my religious observance this semester in accordance with the college's attendance policy. This catalog is the document of authority for all students and includes undergraduate, graduate, law, and medical students. "Try your hardest to accommodate.