Posts Tagged ‘religion in the workplace’
When it comes to religion in the workplace, we all have our varied beliefs, which is totally acceptable. I have worked with Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Christians, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and many many more. I have never had an issue with any of them. In fact, for many years, I was a minister and had my own share of moral dilemmas when it came to my beliefs and where I worked. Then the tables were turned when I gave up the ministry and became a manager myself. What can be done when a persons religious beliefs stop them from carrying out their duties as requested at work?
I have been on both sides of the argument. On the one hand, I was a worker at a factory which was owned by a Jewish family. I was a Christian and that was controversial enough for them but when I had to ask for time off to attend some of my churches conventions that took place a couple of times a year during the week, that always caused a big problem for them. I made it clear however that if I didn’t get the time off, I would quit. Luckily for me, my mum worked there as well as she would always smooth things over after I had a huge argument with the boss. I was young and very arrogant I guess. Then, on the other hand, as a manager, I had people say to me they couldn’t do this or that because it went against their religious beliefs and their conscience wouldn’t allow it. My general response to that was to find a compromise that both parties are happy with.
We all know it’s unlawful for an employer to discriminate against someone on the grounds of religion. However, if you turn that around a little it raises a very interesting question. Should it be unlawful for a person to accept a job knowing full well that there are certain aspects of the job that they cannot perform due to their religious beliefs? I read an article awhile ago on this talking about how in the state of Illinois USA, some pharmacists refused to fulfill prescriptions that were for birth control pills because of their religious beliefs. While I am all for respecting a persons beliefs and trying to accommodate them at work, I would draw the line there. To me, a pharmacists who has a problem with dispensing certain types of medications should not be working as a pharmacist. That idea is like a doctor who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, refusing to give a non Jehovah’s Witness patient a blood transfusion because it goes against his beliefs of not receiving a blood transfusion himself. It doesn’t make any sense to me. If an employee cannot do what their employer wants as part of their job description, as long as it’s not illegal off course, then that employee should simply just quit and find more suitable employment elsewhere. Why should a company be forced to pay an employee who wont do their job?
As a manager though, when you do your interviewing, you more than likely cannot ask any questions about a persons religious beliefs as it’s illegal in most countries. It does leave you in a bit of spot. On the upside though, most people with certain beliefs will not work somewhere where it will make their working lives a living hell. The best thing you can do to protect yourself when interviewing someone for a vacancy is to give them a full job description (explain everything they’re expected to do in their job), outline the companies culture (explain the work functions they’re expected to attend even if they are social ones) and even outline the companies policies on days off and so on. Then that way the person you interview has all the information of what’s expected and the type of company they will be working for and they can make a decision if your company is a place where they can work in peace without any religious objections coming in the way.
As for the question, do work and religion mix, my answer to that is, yes they do….most of the time. As long as both employer and employee are honest with each other and compromise where necessary, there’s no reason why the two cannot mix.
Posted in 
