TruthBook Religious News Blog

One-third of employers have seen clashes in the workplace about religion, and experts expect that number to rise. Training managers on ways to mediate conflicts as well as educating employees and supervisors on the issue is important.

By Kristen B. Frasch

Personal clashes about religion are not that uncommon in the workplace. Yet, most organizations do not have a policy addressing the issue.

That's according to a recent study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), which found that one-third of 278 employers surveyed worldwide have seen worker conflicts in the workplace linked to religion.

And even though personal friction over religious beliefs is not all that uncommon, nearly two-thirds of those companies say they do not have a written policy specifically addressing religious bias.

At the same time, it seems clear many organizations are still unsure about how to handle religious differences at work, researchers say.

According to the survey respondents, just 12 percent of companies have a written definition of what is considered to be a "religious belief."

More than half (56 percent) of the employers surveyed report they use in-house mediation to resolve religious disputes.

Other findings of the survey:

* More than half (55 percent) of surveyed companies provide flexible scheduling to allow people to attend religious services, yet only 33 percent offer paid time off for religious holidays.

* Three in 10 (31 percent) companies said that unsolicited sharing of religious views has been a problem in the workplace.

* Thirteen percent said that, because of their religious beliefs, employees have refused to do certain work or associate with certain co-workers.

* Six in 10 (61 percent) companies said they have made an accommodation for an employee, based on the worker's religious beliefs.

In 1999, a Tanenbaum survey found that 20 percent of respondents said they had been, or knew someone in their workplace who was, a victim of religious bias. Also in that survey, 66 percent of respondents said even if they were not personally affected, they saw indications of religious bias in the workplace.

Deborah Weinstein, employment law professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in Philadelphia, cautions that a larger number of respondents would be needed to translate the i4cp survey results to the entire global corporate environment. Nevertheless, she agrees the results are hardly surprising.

"Accommodating religious beliefs and practices at work, and educating workers concerning respect for differences -- not only in religion, but in cases of national origin, disability, sex, age and race, too -- is highly challenging for businesses," says Weinstein, also president of The Weinstein Firm, a Philadelphia-based workforce legal and counseling consultancy.

"Educating everyone at work about religious tolerance, especially managers, is extremely important so they know how to handle requests for accommodation or conflicts around religious differences," she says. "But this isn't the only area of diversity that cries out for increased training," she adds, also noting the increase in harassment claims arising from national origin after 9/11.

"To the extent that national origin correlates with religious differences," says Weinstein, "HR needs to be prepared to address incidents of disrespect and, more importantly, to make prevention a high priority. Training is the best way to [do this]."

Labels: conflict, Institute for Corporate Productivity, Kristen B. Frasch, religion, workplace spirituality