Human Resource Blog

Muslim Prayer and Religious Discrimination in Texas

	HR Management
Confidential Employee Folder Confidential Employee Medical Folder Job File Worksheet Folder Daily EEO Applicant Flow Log Workplace Information Sheets Request to Inspect Personnel Files

	Labor Laws
Complete State & Federal Labor Law Posters 1 Year Compliance Protection Plan State ONLY Labor Law Posters Federal Labor Law Posters

	Management/Leadership
Complete Harassment Forms FMLA Administrator Kit Harassment Prevention Kit Sexual Harassment Kit Workplace Information Sheets

	Workplace Management
Attendance Organizer for 2008, 2009, or 2010 Employee Warning Notice Employee Counseling Report Performance Improvement Plan Employee Performance Evaluation Form Employee Final Warning Notice Separation Checklist Harassment Prevention Kit

A few of our employees who are Muslim want to take prayer breaks at our plant in

Texas. What is your opinion on this?

Followers of Islam usually should be allowed to take their prayer breaks. In most cases, federal law requires employers to grant this time.

The Muslim religion requires followers to pray 5 times facing east during the day. Some businesses and schools provide a quiet place for prayer time, and workers of other faiths may choose to use the room at other times as a place of retreat.

Other employees take breaks, and within reason, it is not an employer’s concern what is done during that time. Some of them take the opportunity to smoke cigarettes. Smoking breaks may add up to more time away from work each day than prayer breaks.

Paid 10-minute or 15-minute breaks are not unusual at most work places. Christian workers may spend the time studying their Bibles. Atheists may choose to drink coffee and eat a doughnut. It’s unlikely that you would object to these behaviors. Are those activities somehow more appropriate than Muslim prayer?

The applicable law is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It forbids religious discrimination in the workplace. Religious activity must be allowed unless it puts an “undue hardship” on the employer.

What would be considered undue hardship? If a Muslim employee were the sole worker, and his or her prayer breaks required hiring an additional employee, that could constitute undue hardship. Situations like that, however, are unusual.

The law requires that “reasonable accommodations” be made. A “reasonable accommodation” might be one that is not excessively expensive. For example, assume the business requires women to wear uniforms. An employer might provide Muslim women with long, loose-fitting pants rather than the customary short skirts. Even if the cost were slightly more, it would be a reasonable accommodation. On the other hand, a $10,000 designer outfit would not be.

The accommodations must be made for someone’s “sincerely held” religious beliefs. To qualify as “sincerely held,” there must be some evidence, such as attending services at least periodically or participating in the faith in some other way. An employee cannot pretend to be of different faiths on different holidays simply to get more time off. JH