Human Resource Blog

Dress Code in Montana

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Are we required to allow a female Muslim employee to wear a headscarf in

Montana? Or should she conform to our usual dress code?

In most cases, the law has required that exceptions must be made to the dress code to accommodate religious practices. Those exceptions have usually been found to be reasonable accommodations, and are unlikely to be considered undue hardships on the employer.

A Muslim employee who was fired for refusing to remove her headscarf took her case to the EEOC. A court assessed $287,000 in her favor. That included $250,000 in penalties for breaking the law and the remainder in back pay and lost wages. The case involved a Phoenix rental car agency.

Two Muslim employees of a New Jersey town sued their employer because the dress code demanded that all men be clean-shaven. They argued that their religion required them to wear beards. The court found that making an exception to the dress code in this case was a reasonable accommodation.

According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of religion, whether in hiring, firing, or other workplace practices. It requires that reasonable accommodations be made unless that would cause “undue hardship” on the employer.

What constitutes undue hardship? Significant increases in costs, for one. Different standards have been applied to large firms and small companies when it comes to determining undue hardship. While $2,000 might be a hardship for a small company, $7,000 might not be considered a significant outlay for a large firm.

It would be wise to work together with your employee to come up with a compromise. Perhaps there would be an alternative uniform that both of you could agree on. Islamic religious tradition requires women to wear loose clothing that covers the body, with the exception of the hands and face. Matching, loose-fitting trousers would replace the usual skirt. And while you have the right to approve which headscarf she wears, you cannot require her to work without it. JH