EEOC/HRM Equal Employment Opportunity & HRM

In this short essay, we will explore the implications of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII with regard to religious discrimination, reasonable accommodations and EEOC procedures. Such regulations can be difficult to administer and can backfire in lawsuits unless HR professionals understand the laws, regulations and how to facilitate their observance. By properly doing this, embarrassing and expensive lawsuits can be avoided and EEO policies can be administered effectively and more satisfactorily for all concerned. In this way, diversity can be an important company asset and not a financial liability.

Equal Employment Opportunity Act

The Equal Employment Opportunity Act is designed to protect U.S. employees from employment discrimination based upon the employee's (or applicant's) color, race, sex, religion, or national origin. It prohibits employers from discrimination in employment based upon race, color, religion, sex or national origin in a comprehensive set of regulations that require proactive anticipation, formulation and administration of company anti-discrimination policies ("Compliance manual section," 2008, 4).

Title VII/Religious Discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides guidance on religious discrimination in the workplace. Key questions in any discussion of religious discrimination under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act are what constitutes harassment and what employer's have to do to accommodate and employee's religious observances and what constitutes a hardship for an employer that would obviate this obligation to accommodate the employee's sincerely held religious...

Examples would include unwelcome religious proselytizing, firing someone based upon their religious beliefs, firing them for their beliefs, or denying them scheduled time off for religious holidays (ibid. 17-22). This harassment is also prohibited from contract employees who might be working for the employer on the work site. EEOC compliance is in place to provide real protection against discrimination (ibid., 23).
Best Practices and Reasonable Accommodations

Employers are expected to use "best practices" in the case of reasonable accommodation. Employers need to inform their employees that they will reasonably accommodate religious beliefs and on what terms. The guidance provided in the manual is that the employer needs to train their supervisors and managers in many facets including in facilitating the best practices and what they entail. For instance, the supervisor should be sensitive to and anticipate the employee's needs. If the employee's needs are unreasonable, then they need to be able to formulate alternatives and have standard policies and procedures in place to do this (ibid., 43).

Undue Hardships

Finally, the employer is given the right to refuse if it is an undue hardship and this is spelled out. For instance, an accommodation may violate the seniority system in place in the company and the request for accommodation may be denied. However, this not an automatic thing and the employer should be proactive to double-check that they are not in violation of seniority…