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Dress Code in Massachusetts

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A female employee who is Muslim wants to wear a headscarf at work in Massachusetts.  I say it’s not appropriate and doesn’t fit our dress code.  Who is right?

Massachusetts court cases have, in numerous instances, supported an Islamic woman’s right to wear clothing that protects her modesty at work.

An Islamic woman in Phoenix sued a car rental agency in 2002 because the company fired her for refusing to remove her headscarf during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.  The woman filed a complaint of religious discrimination with the EEOC, and received $287,000.  This money included lost wages, back pay, and a $250,000 penalty for the law violation.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically Title VII of that act, prohibits employers from discriminating against people because of their religion.  This law includes discrimination in hiring, firing, and other terms of employment.

According to this law, all employers have to make reasonable accommodations for any employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs or practices.  The only exception would be if the accommodations were to cause an undue hardship for the employer.

There have been quite a few court cases that have demonstrated that making exceptions to dress codes is usually considered to be a reasonable accommodation by law. 

For an undue hardship to occur, the reasonable accommodations in question would have to be significantly more expensive to the employer.  For instance, a religious accommodation that caused an employer to have to hire an additional full-time staff member would be considered an undue hardship.  Different standards of undue hardship apply for larger employers than for smaller employers. 

An adjustment that costs a small company $2,000 per year might be an undue hardship.  For a larger employer, however, a $7,000 per year adjustment might not be considered an undue hardship.

Generally, changing the dress code does not constitute an undue hardship for employers.  Most employers, therefore, need to work out a compromise with employees.  Of course, that does not mean that employees can wear whatever they want to work.  Employers should work with employees to come up with an alternative uniform that is acceptable to both parties. JH