When An Employee Asks For A Religious Accommodation, The Standard Is Higher Than It Used To Be.
Both Title VII and Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act require room for sincerely held religious beliefs and practices unless undue hardship results. The Supreme Court’s Groff v. DeJoy decision defined hardship as substantial increased cost in relation to the conduct of the business.
What The Law Requires For Religious Practice.
Not legal advice, just a plain summary. Read the current law before acting.
Sincerely Held Belief
Protection covers religious beliefs and practices, including those that are new, uncommon or not part of an organized faith, so long as they are sincerely held. The employer may ask limited questions when there is a genuine reason to doubt.
Undue Hardship Standard
Under Groff v. DeJoy, an employer must show that the burden of the accommodation is substantial in the overall context of its business. More than a minimal cost is no longer enough.
Michigan Coverage
At 15 or more employees an employer falls under Title VII, but Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Act prohibits religious discrimination at any size.
Handling Religious Requests.
Typical requests involve schedule changes for worship or holy days, exceptions to dress or grooming rules, prayer breaks, and objections to a specific task. Talk with the employee about what is needed, consider options like a voluntary shift swap, and decide on the real operational impact rather than stereotype or coworker preference.
Coworker complaints or customer preference are not by themselves a hardship. Hardship requires a showing of real cost, safety or operational impact, and that showing is judged on the facts of the business. Document the options considered and the reasons for the outcome.
Because a religious accommodation can involve pay, hours and benefits, coordinate with payroll and the benefit plan. A change in hours may affect plan eligibility, and some requests relate directly to benefit procedures.
Where this shows up in your plan.
Schedule Changes And Eligibility
Cutting an employee’s hours as a religious accommodation may put the person under the plan’s eligibility threshold or alter the ACA full-time measurement.
Benefit Procedures And Beliefs
Some employees object on religious grounds to a requirement connected with benefits administration. Treat these as accommodation requests.
Leave For Religious Observance
Unpaid time off for a holy day is a common accommodation. The employer should decide how the time interacts with accrued leave and sick time rules.
Setting it up.
Treat any request linked to religious practice as an accommodation request, even if it is informal.
Ask only what is needed to understand the practice and what is being requested.
Explore options with the employee, including voluntary swaps and schedule changes.
Decide on the facts, weighing real cost and operational effect, and document the reasons.
Tell payroll and benefits about any schedule change that affects hours or eligibility.
Mistakes to avoid.
Denying a request because coworkers or customers would be uncomfortable.
Relying on the old minimal-cost standard that Groff v. DeJoy replaced.
Demanding proof of religious membership instead of limited, good-faith questions.
Ignoring benefit eligibility effects of a reduced or changed schedule.
Other rules employers work with.
Religious and Disability Accommodation Hub
Return to the overview of accommodation duties.
Harassment and Discrimination Rules
Michigan and federal prohibitions.
Michigan Earned Sick Time Act
Paid time off rules that interact with leave requests.
Laws and Rules Referenced
Definitions, including religion, 42 U.S.C. 2000e — Definition of religion and undue hardship in Title VII.
Title VII unlawful practices section, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2 — Prohibited religious discrimination in employment.
EEOC compliance manual on religious discrimination — Federal enforcement guidance on accommodation and undue hardship.
Michigan Elliott-Larsen Act on religion, MCL 37.2202 — Michigan prohibition on employment discrimination based on religion.
Quick answers.
Brief answers about religious accommodation requests, linked to the full guide.
What does Groff v. DeJoy change?
The employer has to show substantial increased costs in relation to its particular business; a minimal cost does not meet the standard.
Can we ask about the employee beliefs?
Only when there is a genuine reason to doubt that the belief is religious or sincere, and the questions should be limited.
Does Michigan law apply to small employers?
Yes. Elliott-Larsen covers employers of every size.
Do religious accommodations affect benefits?
They can, for example when a modified schedule changes hours that determine plan eligibility.
More guides in this series.
Reasonable Disability Accommodation Under the ADA for Michigan Employers
A companion guide in the same series.
The ADA Interactive Process for Michigan Employers
A companion guide in the same series.
Disability Leave, Accommodation and Health Plan Eligibility
A companion guide in the same series.
ADA, GINA and Wellness Program Rules for Michigan Employers
A companion guide in the same series.
Reassignment, Modified Schedules and Reduced Hours as ADA Accommodations
A companion guide in the same series.
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