Religious discrimination in the workplace is when a worker is not treated the same as other workers because of his/her religious affiliation.
Your employer has an obligation to make sure that the work place gives everyone the same opportunity and accommodates different religious affiliations. A religious accommodation is the adjustment made by the employer to the work environment so that the employee may practice his or her religion.
Religious accommodation may be required if a worker’s religious belief or practices conflict with a particular task. Accommodation requests are typically related to work schedules, grooming and dress or religious expression within the workplace.
As long as the request doesn’t pose any hardship on the employer the request must be accepted. If you believe that you are not getting the same opportunity due to your religion or you are the subject of offensive comments you should begin building your case immediately against your employer for religious discrimination.
Typical Examples of Religious Discrimination in the Workplace
Religious discrimination in the workplace can come in many forms such as:
- dismissing a worker because of his/her religion;
- making the choice not to hire someone due to his/her religion;
- refusing to develop or promote an employee because of his/her religion;
- paying a worker less than other workers because of his/her religion;
- making insulting jokes at a worker due to his/her religion.
If you wish to file a claim for compensation because you have had to endure religious discrimination, you will need to compile sufficient evidence to support your claim.
Gathering Evidence to Support Your Claim of Religious discrimination
The sort of evidence that is required includes:
- any physical or digital communications that can prove religious discrimination exists;
- asking witnesses to provide written accounts of religious discrimination or discriminatory behavior;
- providing a timeline of discriminatory behavior based on your religion;
- keeping a record of any complaints that you brought to your supervisors or hr attention and their responses, if any.
As soon as you have gathered the evidence you should contact the HR or your supervisor in your workplace and report the religious discrimination.
You should try to solve the problem within your workplace first. If you don’t get any response you should file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC).
Their first step is typically to arrange mediation between you and your employer and hope to find a solution. If the EEOC gets no response the officer responsible for your case will suggest you file a compensation claim in court so that you can be compensated for the wrongdoing by your employer.
Get an Expert on Your Side
Trying to win a religious discrimination claim is never easy on your own so it is a good idea to get your case evaluated by an expert who can assist you to organize the evidence that you have managed to acquire and help you file a compensation claim in court.
