Religious Accommodation
HRQ
2,849 Posts
We are a childcare company - children 6 weeks to 12 years.
I learned today a supervisor is "accommodating" a staff member who is Jehovah's Witness by doing NO holiday-related art projects in that teacher's classroom. That means the children in her classroom are being treated differently than the other 5,000 children in our system, who are doing holiday/winter themed art projects: snowflakes, snowmen, wreaths, decorated trees, bells, reindeer, etc.
I think she went overboard. I instructed the supervisor to have the teacher resume with our regular curriculum, and if making a Rudolph project (for example) conflicts with her religious beliefs, then she can do other job-related tasks such as setting up for story time, or changing diapers, or updating parents' daily notes, or whatever, while her co-teacher does the "festive" stuff.
Holiday Programs will be treated similarly: she won't have to sing, wear a santa hat, or decorate a tree, but she will have to do productive work that is not holiday related.
Your thoughts? Think this meets the reasonable accommodation requirement for religion?
I learned today a supervisor is "accommodating" a staff member who is Jehovah's Witness by doing NO holiday-related art projects in that teacher's classroom. That means the children in her classroom are being treated differently than the other 5,000 children in our system, who are doing holiday/winter themed art projects: snowflakes, snowmen, wreaths, decorated trees, bells, reindeer, etc.
I think she went overboard. I instructed the supervisor to have the teacher resume with our regular curriculum, and if making a Rudolph project (for example) conflicts with her religious beliefs, then she can do other job-related tasks such as setting up for story time, or changing diapers, or updating parents' daily notes, or whatever, while her co-teacher does the "festive" stuff.
Holiday Programs will be treated similarly: she won't have to sing, wear a santa hat, or decorate a tree, but she will have to do productive work that is not holiday related.
Your thoughts? Think this meets the reasonable accommodation requirement for religion?
Comments
Seems to me your main focus should be on the kid's rights and the staff member comes second. Your solution seems very reasonable.
Remember, you are required to accommodate beliefs not preferences.
I agree with the other posters.
My only other recommendation is that you offer to transfer this employee to work at Crate and Barrel where any mention of Christmas has been prohibited by management.
Rather than take a lot of time researching, we landed on what I posted above - it still gets the job done without setting a precedent we are uncomfortable with.
Even cutting out Santa hats from red paper isn't "celebrating" a holiday, it's following company mandated curriculum, but we chose not to force that issue.
Ray a, thank you for your comment about the supervisor imposing the staff member's own beliefs on the children by removing all reference to the holidays. It helped me get the point across to the supervisor.
>her religion. If it was an overtly religious
>activity like taking part in a nativity scene
>that would be understandable. Snowflakes are
>part of nature. Rudolph is part of our secular
>cultural landscape.
>
>I agree with the other posters.
>
>My only other recommendation is that you offer
>to transfer this employee to work at Crate and
>Barrel where any mention of Christmas has been
>prohibited by management.
Just wanted to recommend you go to [url]www.crateandbarrel.com[/url] to see the word CHRISTMAS right there in big red letters...this is how rumors get started...
Merry Christmas to you!
Here is the weblink to the Minneapolis Star Tribune article:
[url]http://www.startribune.com/535/story/830511.html[/url]
and here is the quote:
"Crate & Barrel has Jewish, Muslim and atheist customers, spokeswoman Betty Kahn said. "We would definitely not say Merry Christmas," she continued. "It's all about holiday shopping; getting together with friends and family."
I have nothing personal against Crate and Barrel but when I read the statement "We would definitely not say Merry Christmas" it seemed pretty clear to me what their stance was.
Sounds too crazy to be true, even for WalMart.
Thanks...
O'Reilly still blasting retail chains for apocryphal "Merry Christmas" ban
Summary: On his radio show, Bill O'Reilly claimed that retailers Best Buy and Crate & Barrel are "still ordering their people not to say, 'Merry Christmas,' " and that the stores "will fire" employees who do. According to each store's spokesperson, neither retail chain has such a policy.
On the November 29 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly continued to hype the so-called "war" on Christmas by claiming that retailers Best Buy and Crate & Barrel are "still ordering their people not to say, 'Merry Christmas,' " and that the stores "will fire" employees who do. O'Reilly also asserted that "ordering" employees "not to say 'Merry Christmas' " is "the worst kind of fascism you could possibly have." In fact, representatives of both stores have denied having policies that forbid employees to say "Merry Christmas" to customers.
Contrary to O'Reilly's assertion, neither Crate & Barrel nor Best Buy appears to have policies forbidding employees from saying "Merry Christmas" and firing them if they do so. O'Reilly is presumably basing his claim that Crate & Barrel "order[s] their people not to say 'Merry Christmas' " on a November 22 Minneapolis Star Tribune article, which reported that Crate & Barrel spokesperson Betty Kahn said, "We would definitely not say 'Merry Christmas.' " But as the weblog Think Progress reported, "Kahn said her quote was misconstrued. Crate & Barrel has no policy encouraging or discouraging store employees from saying 'Merry Christmas' or any other greeting."
Best Buy also reportedly does not forbid its employees to say "Merry Christmas." As noted in the November 22 Augusta Chronicle, "Best Buy spokeswoman Dawn Bryant said Best Buy workers are allowed to greet customers any way they choose, including 'Merry Christmas,' but the company's promotional efforts are limited." Bryant added "that one [Best Buy] commercial uses the Happy Holidays saying. 'The idea is that we're celebrating the entire holiday season, just not pulling out any one specific holiday.' " According to the November 22 Star Tribune report, another Best Buy spokesperson asserted: "We're not banning Christmas. ...It's the opposite. We're celebrating that holiday, along with the others that are celebrated during November and December."
Happy Advent, all!
rt2
I think not cutting out snowflakes is going a little too far. Does the teacher have no seasonal decorations in the classroom? If not, the children are being deprived.