When does your religion legally excuse you from doing part of your job?

[TygrBright]

6. Not only can they, but it's a 'best practice,' if done correctly.

But a lot of employers fail to do it, because it's difficult to do it correctly.

The *correct* way to do this, is to lay out the activities and times for performing them that are bona fide requirements- that is, you really can't perform the job effectively without being able to do them. (Right there, you run into problems in some places, because employers don't always understand that 'bona fide' implies 'what it would take to perform this job based on objective and reasonable criteria' rather than 'what it would take to perform it the way I believe it should be performed.')

Then you ask the job applicant, in pretty much *exactly* this language: "Would you be able to carry out this/these tasks, on the necessary schedule?"

The prospective employee is then free to say (for example) "all except the third Thursday and Friday in September every year, when I would need to have an exception to the regular work schedule."

The employer is then free to either a) negotiate that exception as part of the employment agreement, in which case they are responsible for making that accomodation now and and forever and may NOT use it as an excuse for discipline or termination; or b) say "We cannot accommodate that, and thus cannot offer you this job."

If done correctly, this negotiation process results in a win/win for the employer and employee.

How NOT to do it: You never, EVER ask anything about what might prevent someone from carrying out the bona fide requirements of the job, and you never IMPLY anything about why you think someone might/might not be able to do so. Not verbally, CERTAINLY not in writing on the interview notes, not in queries to a reference, etcetera.

It doesn't matter if you can see that the applicant is hugely pregnant- probably within four weeks of delivery- and the first major bona fide tasks they'll need to undertake involve travel and many hours of training and/or rigidly scheduled activity within the first 90 days, you are NOT allowed to even refer to that pregnancy.

You explain the requirements, ask the applicant, and take their word for it, EVEN IF they don't choose to tell you "My c-section is scheduled next week and my mother and brother live with me and will be providing full-time care for the infant and I plan to be up and around and working my ass off almost immediately." Even if they just nod, and say, "Yep, I can do that." You must then take their word for it, and if your doubts are such that you really believe they CAN'T do it, you'd better find some other reason for not hiring them (such as the perennial 'we preferred this other applicant,') and never even mention the huge pregnancy and the doubts about it.

The applicant is not obliged to explain ANY reasons why they want to negotiate an accommodation.

The employer is required to take the applicant's word for it that they won't need an accommodation, without question.

But far and away too many employers try to elicit information, make implications, etcetera, referring to things like the graduation date on someone's resume, the religious nature of a school listed, the ethnic derivation of a last name, their marital status, how many kids they might have, etc., and wander into the minefield, so they leave out the "requirements/ capability/ accommodation" part of the discussion altogether in the interests of safety.

And then have to deal with unpleasant surprises down the road.

informatively,
Bright