religion in the workplace: an HR perspective
A Tanenbaum / Society for Human Resource Management Project

To what extent do (and should) companies have programs to create a workplace that supports the religious diversity of their employees?  To answer this question and to see how religion impacts the workplace, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding partnered in a survey of HR professionals.  The survey was sent to 2,382 randomly selected SHRM members.  The results are based on the responses of 552 human resource professionals, a response rate of 23 percent.
 

the good news:

· A majority (89 percent) of respondents reported no change in the number of incidents of religious bias in their experience.  Seven percent said the number of incidents declined. 

·  95 percent of respondents said there hasn’t been a religious discrimination claim filed against their organization in the past five years.

· 87 percent of HR professionals surveyed believe managers do not stereotype employees based on faith.  And 79 percent believe employees do not stereotype each other.

· 95 percent of the sample allow special decoration of office space for holidays.  Also popular are allowing religious materials in work areas (75 percent); decorations that cover the interests of all employees (68 percent); and flexible scheduling to give time off for religious practices (67 percent).

· 77 percent of respondents’ organizations include religion in their standard harassment policy.    

· One-third of respondents indicated that their companies have seen heightened cooperation and communication among employees due to acceptance of religious diversity.
 

the red flags:

· More than one-third (36 percent) of respondents said that there are more religions represented in their workforce than five years earlier. 

· 20 percent of respondents had seen an increase in religious accommodation requests over the previous five years. 

· Less than one-third of respondents’ organizations have a written policy on religious diversity.  Of those with an official policy, only 4% have one apart from their general diversity statement.

· Christian holidays are the only official ones recognized with days off in 99% of workplaces.  And only 25% of respondents’ organizations permit holiday swapping, such as working on Ash Wednesday in exchange for taking time off on Yom Kippur.

· According to HR, taking religious needs into account when providing food for employees is the third most requested accommodation (28 percent).  Yet, it is seventh on the list of accommodations offered (50 percent).  Also, having a written policy on religious holiday leave is in the top four requested accommodations (20 percent) while it ranks 11th among those offered by employers (22 percent).  Hence, the survey points to a possible disconnect between employers and employees.  

 · While HR professionals did not report an increase in religious discrimination claims over the past five years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) saw
a 24 percent increase in religion-based charges for the same five-year period.

 · The SHRM/Tanenbaum survey asked if workers complained of special treatment when the company offered religious accommodations.  Compared to five years ago, 13% fewer HR professionals were free of favoritism complaints due to religious accommodations.

· Nearly 20% of respondents report employees proselytizing co-workers about religion.  And compared to five years earlier, there was a slight increase in conflict among employees due to religion.

· Only 16% of respondents’ organizations offer training on religious accommodations.  Only one-third include religion as a component of diversity training.

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