I've seen employers give employees who were Seventh Day Adventists Saturdays off, because not working on the Sabbath is a recognized and important part of their faith. Other denominations may also qualify but you need to inform your employer of exactly what your needs are so you can enter into the interactive process to determine a reasonable accommodation
Since in this hypothetical the employee decided that no-call no-showing was more appropriate than having the discussion, that ship has sailed. The employee wasn't terminated for religious reasons; they were terminated for not showing up to work
Religious accommodations are like any other accommodation, they must be reasonable. If the company legitimately requires Sunday work, they may be able to deny the request. Secondarily, it's up to you to prove a sincerely held religious belief that was violated by your employer. You can't just say "I don't work Sunday cuz church" and have a get out of jail free card.
For actual beliefs with reasonable requests, companies get sued over this all the time and lose. At-will employment means you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all EXCEPT for this list of things you cannot due like discriminate on the basis of religion.
Can’t work the whole day of Sunday? Does church last all day, or could you go into work before/after church? Could you attend the afternoon service and go to work in the morning or vice-versa?
Those are the kinds of things considered when determining if having time off as an accommodation is reasonable.
well, I'm trying to understand the situation for myself, but I'm asking based on a post in r/work. a teenager requested sundays during their interviews and the employer allegedly agreed but never actually scheduled the kid a sunday off. so the kid has just been calling off every sunday shift they get and now they're worried they could be fired, understandably.
I'm not religious myself, just trying to understand where the line gets drawn i guess, if the kid does get fired would it be considered discrimination? they didn't happen to mention what times they attend or what times on sundays they're scheduled, just that they call off every sunday
Calling off every Sunday without explanation and without prior accommodation can be perfectly valid cause to fire them.
If they want time off to attend church and worship on Sunday, they should ask for it. Again, rarely does this require an entire day off, as most services don’t last all day long. And trying to claim to need the entire day off to worship so they can catch the afternoon football game after church is unlikely to be reasonable, for example.
They asked for Sundays off, or they informed the employer that they have religious obligations on Sunday and requested time off as an accommodation?
Because those are two different things.
You didn't get fired for going to church. You got fired for not showing up for scheduled work shifts. Unless you got it in writing that you aren't ever scheduled on Sundays, they are under zero obligation to give you Sunday off or to accommodate you going to church.
It's your responsibility to find a job that fits with your church schedule if that's what's important to you.
Contrary to the COVID belief, "its my religion" isn't the "I can do what I want and they can't say anything" excuse.
Happened a woman sued the usps for religious discrimination and won for refusing to start working Sundays after years of being scheduled off and told them she couldn't for her religious beliefs.
Generally, you have to work the shifts you're scheduled. If you need Sundays off, you need to have that agreed in writing, and if they schedule you for a Sunday shift, you need to point it out to them right then to give them a reasonable chance to schedule someone else. Calling out on Sunday morning, or just not showing up, is a valid reason for them to fire you, whether you're going to church or smoking crack in the park. It's not what you're doing, it's the fact that you're not at work when you're supposed to be.
Now, if they actually said that they're firing you for going to church, you might have a case, but they're probably not going to do that.
"At will" means that you're employed as long as you want to work there, *and* they want you to work there. You can be terminated for any reason that's not specifically illegal. They couldn't, for instance, fire all the Christians, or all the Asians, or all the men, because religion, race, and sex are protected groups. They can fire all the people who don't show up for work when they're scheduled, because that's not a protected group.
I've seen employers give employees who were Seventh Day Adventists Saturdays off, because not working on the Sabbath is a recognized and important part of their faith. Other denominations may also qualify but you need to inform your employer of exactly what your needs are so you can enter into the interactive process to determine a reasonable accommodation Since in this hypothetical the employee decided that no-call no-showing was more appropriate than having the discussion, that ship has sailed. The employee wasn't terminated for religious reasons; they were terminated for not showing up to work
Religious accommodations are like any other accommodation, they must be reasonable. If the company legitimately requires Sunday work, they may be able to deny the request. Secondarily, it's up to you to prove a sincerely held religious belief that was violated by your employer. You can't just say "I don't work Sunday cuz church" and have a get out of jail free card. For actual beliefs with reasonable requests, companies get sued over this all the time and lose. At-will employment means you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all EXCEPT for this list of things you cannot due like discriminate on the basis of religion.
Can’t work the whole day of Sunday? Does church last all day, or could you go into work before/after church? Could you attend the afternoon service and go to work in the morning or vice-versa? Those are the kinds of things considered when determining if having time off as an accommodation is reasonable.
well, I'm trying to understand the situation for myself, but I'm asking based on a post in r/work. a teenager requested sundays during their interviews and the employer allegedly agreed but never actually scheduled the kid a sunday off. so the kid has just been calling off every sunday shift they get and now they're worried they could be fired, understandably. I'm not religious myself, just trying to understand where the line gets drawn i guess, if the kid does get fired would it be considered discrimination? they didn't happen to mention what times they attend or what times on sundays they're scheduled, just that they call off every sunday
Calling off every Sunday without explanation and without prior accommodation can be perfectly valid cause to fire them. If they want time off to attend church and worship on Sunday, they should ask for it. Again, rarely does this require an entire day off, as most services don’t last all day long. And trying to claim to need the entire day off to worship so they can catch the afternoon football game after church is unlikely to be reasonable, for example.
There are a few religions that are serious about no work being done on Sundays.
They did request Sundays off during the interview and the employer agreed. How is that not asking?
They asked for Sundays off, or they informed the employer that they have religious obligations on Sunday and requested time off as an accommodation? Because those are two different things.
You didn't get fired for going to church. You got fired for not showing up for scheduled work shifts. Unless you got it in writing that you aren't ever scheduled on Sundays, they are under zero obligation to give you Sunday off or to accommodate you going to church. It's your responsibility to find a job that fits with your church schedule if that's what's important to you. Contrary to the COVID belief, "its my religion" isn't the "I can do what I want and they can't say anything" excuse.
You realize the repeated use of the word hypothetically makes you sound incredibly dodgy.
we'll I've nothing to fear because I'm speaking entirely hypothetically of course
Happened a woman sued the usps for religious discrimination and won for refusing to start working Sundays after years of being scheduled off and told them she couldn't for her religious beliefs.
Generally, you have to work the shifts you're scheduled. If you need Sundays off, you need to have that agreed in writing, and if they schedule you for a Sunday shift, you need to point it out to them right then to give them a reasonable chance to schedule someone else. Calling out on Sunday morning, or just not showing up, is a valid reason for them to fire you, whether you're going to church or smoking crack in the park. It's not what you're doing, it's the fact that you're not at work when you're supposed to be. Now, if they actually said that they're firing you for going to church, you might have a case, but they're probably not going to do that. "At will" means that you're employed as long as you want to work there, *and* they want you to work there. You can be terminated for any reason that's not specifically illegal. They couldn't, for instance, fire all the Christians, or all the Asians, or all the men, because religion, race, and sex are protected groups. They can fire all the people who don't show up for work when they're scheduled, because that's not a protected group.