Dress Code Policies: Handling Religious Accommodation Requests

(Published October 2, 2007)

An employee showing up to work wearing a baseball cap, in violation of your company's dress code, is one thing. It's easy enough to tell the hat-wearing employee, "Don't do it again," expect a little resistance, and then compliance. An employee wearing a headscarf due to a religious observance when any type of head covering is prohibited is entirely another dress code dilemma. Not as easy is telling a headscarf-wearing employee to remove it without risking a potential religious discrimination lawsuit.

Take Alamo Rent-A-Car, for example. It previously allowed a Muslim employee to wear a headscarf at work. The company found a happy medium between her religious beliefs and its dress code by requiring her to wear one that had its logo because she interacted with the public as a customer sales representative.

However, following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the company refused to allow the employee to observe the religious requirement at all by demanding her to remove the headscarf when assisting customers. It fired her when she refused to comply. With the EEOC's help, the employee sued the company for religious discrimination. Earlier this year, a jury awarded her over $287,000 for her claim. (EEOC v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, LLC, D.C. AZ, No. CIV 02-1908-PHX-ROS, 2007)

Public Image Concerns

If your organization is concerned with the effect on public image an employee's religious requirement might have, you may compromise by asking the employee to pin the company logo to the item in question, or to wear the religious garb in a particular color scheme. UPS, for example, accommodates a variety of religious beliefs by offering brown turbans, longer shorts, culottes, and headscarves. It is possible to make modifications to dress standards without affecting public image.

To help determine whether an employee's request for a dress code exception is legitimate, or whether your denial of the request is reasonable, take the following steps.

• Do discuss with the employee their need for an accommodation. Ask for additional information if you're unfamiliar with the beliefs or practices of the employee's religion. Just because you've never heard of or seen it doesn't mean it isn't valid.
• Don't worry about co-worker reactions. Fearing other employees will also ask for exceptions to the rules is not a valid reason for denying this employee's request.
• Don't act on customer preferences; it is not a defense for discriminating against an employee. So, explain to a customer who doesn't want to be assisted by an employee wearing a yarmulke, for example, that your organization's policy is to hire and retain individuals with the right qualifications regardless of religion, race, national origin, etc. Then, assure the customer that your company expects no less than satisfactory performance from employees, so the assistance the customer receives from the yarmulke-wearing employee will be just as good as help from any other employee.
• Do handle dress code accommodation requests on a case-by-case basis. You must not only be consistent in denying accommodations and enforcing the dress code, but also flexible about exploring possible accommodations. Train managers to recognize the need to make exceptions for religious reasons and what poses an undue hardship.

There are instances where the effect on public image creates an undue hardship. Only then may your company have a legal leg to stand on in refusing to alter the company's dress code for an employee's religious observance. However, the burden is on the company to prove:

• there is a legitimate business interest for establishing and enforcing dress code standards;
• accommodation options were explored;
• viable options, if any, were offered to the employee, and the employee turned them down.

Related Topic(s): Discipline - Performance Issues/Dress Codes, Discrimination/Religious Discrimination