Prayer break on Friday

[HRZ]

I'd not bet the ranch on the written agreement as to working conditions trump the need to provide an accommodation under Federal law ...and it may be a very expensive quest ...unless you find case law n a jurisdiction that counts seeing it the way you seek. I'm aware of a major PA employer who signed up a new employee with clear review of working requirements only to be advised after signing aboard that she required an accommodation for XYZ ...and they decided not to test thier deep pockets ..and accommodate her...to a far greater extent than your requester

I doubt the nature of your job is such that that specific electrical worker is required on that site at that time ...I ran some electrical contracting crews in several states inc PA and some under prevailing wage requirements ....I simply don't know if traffic /transit issues are such in your area that his return for useful time near end of shift are an issue such that one possible accommodation is to allow him to clock out early as requested ...with commensurate reduction in compensation based on actual hours . I do know the religious requirements are rather strict as to prayer ...and lived in North Africa where the calls to prayer could be heard several times a day ....I'd not want to test this one in 2018.

 

[LdiJ]

Thank you, just throwing this out there....would there be any consideration in our favor, that he signed and agreed to the working conditions (hours) but didn’t mention his prayer accommodation until after doing so?

That would be at least a defense, but you are basically throwing out every possible solution to an accommodation for pretty much no good reason at all. I really cannot tell if that is because you are one of those companies that simply cannot think outside of the box at all, or you just don't want to hire him now at all.

Why can't you have an employee who only works 37 hours a week and is only paid for working 37 hours a week? He might opt not to take the job if he knows that is the only way that you can accommodate.

 

[cbg]

No. LdiJ's comment aside, it would be just as illegal to refuse to hire him because he needed an accommodation as it would be to refuse him one when requested. Maybe a bit harder to prove, but definitely not something that you want to try as a defense unless you are trying to lose the case.

 

[commentator]

If you are in a large metro area, which you are, this may be a tester case. I'd not chance refusing it, or cancelling the hire at this point, simply because you have gotten too far into it to have it appear that you would be refusing to hire for any other reason than this requested prayer break on Friday afternoons. If you can't let your company HR handle this one, don't have anybody to pass the decision off to, I'd allow him to do this, but require that he report back to work every Friday afternoon and give you the 45 minutes of time at the end of the day that he can get in. With traffic, yes, sometimes that would be maybe 10 minutes of time, but I'd make it plain that he can have the time off, but he can't have the rest of Friday afternoon off. Unless there were some agreement that he'd only work (and only be paid) for 35 hours a week or something similar.

My thoughts are this. Good electricians are hard to come by. If he's a good worker, wanting to sincerely practice his religion, he's going to be willing to come back to work as long as he has been accommodated to get to his prayer meeting. It may be worked out, and it may turn out you're delighted to have him for all the time he IS available and it is worth making the accommodation.

The other possibility is that he is a case tester, out to get somebody to make a mistake about what they can and cannot do, and then slap a big lawsuit on you. Or he may turn out to be a slacker who will not comply with the arrangement you have made for him, won't want to play if he can't have all Friday afternoon off, and will not be missed when he voluntarily removes himself from the situation or is fired for failing to report back to work as required. Even if he then complains about you to EEOC, you'll have attempted to work with him, which is a much better place for you to be.

 

[adjusterjack]

Maybe.

"You signed up under false pretenses, you're fired."

That has nothing to do with religion.

 

[LdiJ]

Maybe.

"You signed up under false pretenses, you're fired."

That has nothing to do with religion.

I could see that translated as "you signed up without telling us you were Muslim, and therefore you are fired". Its a risk no matter what.

 

[Zigner]

Maybe.

"You signed up under false pretenses, you're fired."

That has nothing to do with religion.

I completely disagree. Firing using this reason is absolutely based on the employee's request for a reasonable accommodation to practice his religion.

 

[westside]

Is there no work that could be reassigned so that he could come in and leave earlier on Fridays?

 

[LdiJ]

Is there no work that could be reassigned so that he could come in and leave earlier on Fridays?

Work already starts pretty early 7:30, according to the OP. I kind of doubt that the jobs/customers would be willing to have someone come in any earlier than that.

 

[HRZ]

I think the only safe road is smile and accompdate ...

I can see a toss up as to clock out Friday early and not return for a tiny amount of time ...OR clock out but you must return and clock in and back out at regular time ...I did not sort out any union rules that might apply ...and you didn't say if it's union work

 

[cbg]

Maybe.

"You signed up under false pretenses, you're fired."

That has nothing to do with religion.

Absolutely wrong, there, Jack. Just about 100% wrong, in fact. He tries to use that as a defense for firing the guy, he's toast and the only thing left to determine is how many zeroes he has to write on the check. You will never in a million years get any judge, let alone the EEOC, to see that as anything but an attempt to avoid providing an accommodation.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Is there no work that could be reassigned so that he could come in and leave earlier on Fridays?

I was thinking, "Is all their work exclusively within those hours? Are there never emergencies or times when someone could work outside those hours?" Hey, if there needed to be someone available Sat. or Sun., this guy could make up his hours then (not overtime), so that someone else can observe Shabbat or Sabbath.

 

[LdiJ]

I was thinking, "Is all their work exclusively within those hours? Are there never emergencies or times when someone could work outside those hours?" Hey, if there needed to be someone available Sat. or Sun., this guy could make up his hours then (not overtime), so that someone else can observe Shabbat or Sabbath.

I did not think about making up the hours on weekends, that might be an option unless they already staff for weekends.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The OP made a comment somewhere in the thread that leads me to believe they work at construction sites. Not residential and commercial "on call" type work.

 

[ALawyer]

It seems to me that one potential "reasonable accommodation" could be to offer to be flexible, and agree to allow him some extra time (that he would make up by working late) but only when he is working on job sites that are within X minutes (hypothetically 15) expected commuting time of the mosque. In those circumstances, including the hour that he'd otherwise get for lunch and the 15 minutes each way round trip, he'd only be off work for an extra 30 minutes, which presumably would not be disruptive and which he could make up that day or the next. However, when he will be working on a job site 45 minutes away from the mosque, as a round trip would take an 90 minutes, plus the hour for lunch if 2-1/2 hours would be highly disruptive to the needs of the business, he would not be able to take off.