Five Things Employers Should Know About the EEOC’s New Guidance on Religious Accommodations for COVID-19 Vaccines
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) offered employers new guidance on religious accommodations for the COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 technical assistance applies to religious accommodation claims under Title VII. This guidance gives more detail on employer and employee responsibilities and provides examples.
Title VII bans employment discrimination on the basis of religion. Under Title VII’s religious protections, employees have the right to request an exception, or reasonable accommodation, from an employer requirement that conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs, practices or observances. If an employer shows that it cannot reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs, practices or observances without undue hardship on its operations, the employer is not required to grant the accommodation. The right to a religious accommodation can extend to COVID-19 vaccines.
Highlights from the guidance include:
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- As a best practice, an employer should provide employees and applicants with information about requesting a religious accommodation. The EEOC provided its own internal form for requesting accommodations as an example.
- Title VII protects both traditional and nontraditional religious beliefs, practices or observances. This includes those that may be unfamiliar to employers. While employers should generally presume that a request for an accommodation is based on sincerely held beliefs, they can make a limited factual inquiry and ask for supporting information if they have an objective basis for questioning the religious nature or sincerity of the belief. If an employee refuses to cooperate in a reasonable inquiry, the employee risks losing any claim that the employer improperly denied an accommodation.
- Objections to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement that are purely based on social, political or economic views or personal preferences, or any other nonreligious concerns (including about the possible effects of the vaccine), do not qualify as religious beliefs, practices or observances under Title VII. However, overlap between a religious and political view does not place it outside the scope of Title VII’s religious protections, as long as the view is part of a comprehensive religious belief system and is not simply an isolated teaching.
- An accommodation is an undue burden if it would result in more than a minimal cost to the employer. Costs to be considered include not only direct monetary costs but also the burden on the conduct of the employer’s business. This includes the risk of the spread of COVID-19 to other employees or to the public. Certain common and relevant considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic include:
- Does the employee work outdoors or indoors?
- Does the employee work in a solitary or group work setting?
- Does the employee have close contact with other employees or members of the public, especially medically vulnerable individuals?
- How many employees are seeking a similar accommodation, meaning what is the cumulative cost or burden on the employer?
Employers may rely on CDC guidelines when deciding whether an effective accommodation is available that would not pose an undue hardship.
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- The obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation is a continuing obligation that allows for changing circumstances. If the employee’s religious beliefs change or if the accommodation later becomes an undue burden, it can be modified or revoked.
Please contact Mallory Bland or any member of Phelps’ Labor and Employment team if you have questions or need compliance advice and guidance. And for more information related to COVID-19, visit Phelps’ COVID-19 Client Resource Portal.