EEOC Revisits Religious Accommodations for Vaccination Rules

Topics

EEOC’s Points of Guidance

Language employees with religious objections to COVID-19 vaccinations must use

Employees must tell their employer if they are requesting an exception to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement because of a conflict between that requirement and their sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances.

However, employees do not need to use any magic words such as “religious accommodation” or “Title VII.” However, they need to explain the conflict and the religious basis for it.

As a best practice, employers should provide information about whom to contact and the proper procedures for requesting a religious accommodation.

Asking for additional information from an employee

Under Title VII, employers should proceed on the assumption that a request for religious accommodation is based on sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances. However, if an employer has an objective basis for questioning either the religious nature or the sincerity of a particular belief, the employer would be justified in making a limited factual inquiry and seeking additional supporting information.

Definition of “religion”

The definition of “religion” under Title VII protects both traditional and nontraditional religious beliefs, practices, or observances, including those that may be unfamiliar to employers.

While Title VII does not protect social, political, or economic views or personal preferences, overlap between a religious and political view does not place it outside the scope of Title VII’s religious protections, as long as the view is part of a comprehensive religious belief system.

Sincerity of an employee’s religious belief

The employee’s sincerity in holding a religious belief is largely a matter of individual credibility, but factors that might undermine an employee’s credibility include: whether the employee has acted in a manner consistent with the professed belief, whether the accommodation sought is a particularly desirable benefit that is likely to be sought for nonreligious reasons, whether the timing of the request renders it suspect, and whether the employer otherwise has reason to believe the accommodation is not sought for religious reasons.

Undue hardship

Under Title VII, an employer should thoroughly consider all possible reasonable accommodations, including telework and reassignment.

If an employer demonstrates that it is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious belief, practice, or observance without an undue hardship on its operation, then Title VII doesn’t require the employer to provide the accommodation.

Costs to be considered in the undue hardship analysis include not only direct monetary costs but also the burden on the conduct of the employer’s business, including the risk of the spread of COVID-19 to other employees or to the public, and thus, safety is an issue that could affect the undue hardship analysis.

Safety

When an employer is assessing whether exempting employees from getting a vaccination would impair workplace safety, it may consider, for example, the type of workplace, the nature of the employees’ duties, the location in which the employees must or can perform their duties, the number of employees who are fully vaccinated, how many employees and nonemployees physically enter the workplace, and the number of employees who will in fact need a particular accommodation.

Employees’ preferred accommodations

If there is more than one reasonable accommodation that would resolve the conflict between the vaccination requirement and the sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance without causing an undue hardship under Title VII, the employer may choose which accommodation to offer.

However, an employer’s proposed accommodation will not be “reasonable” if the accommodation requires the employee to accept a reduction in pay or some other loss of a benefit or privilege of employment.

Reconsidering accommodations

An employer has the right to discontinue a previously granted accommodation if it is no longer utilized for religious purposes, or if a provided accommodation subsequently poses an undue hardship on the employer’s operations due to changed circumstances.