Managing Religious Expression in the Workplace

With the holiday season comes holiday decorations.  Employees like to decorate their office spaces to reflect the religious events they will be celebrating.  Some employers find it difficult to know where to draw the line.

David Steingard who is a business ethics expert at Saint Joseph’s University says that trying to silence employees’ religious expression does not work.  When doing so you are violating their religious freedom. 

“As people spend so much time in the workplace, to deny any recognition or practice of religion at work would be morally unjustifiable – one’s religious identity cannot simply be switched off at work,” Steingard said.

Here are some questions that Steingard thinks employers of religiously pluralistic workplaces should take into consideration: 

-    Is everyone’s faith tradition being honored or celebrated?

-    What is considered religious expression?

-     If one employee’s religious expression offends another, whose right is honored and why?

A company Christmas party might make some employees feel alienated or uncomfortable.  It is important that employers address these problems.  

“Companies need to have thoughtful and engaged dialogues on these questions – otherwise, if unmanaged, religious bias in the workplace will inevitably occur,” he said.

Posted by: suhujitha on 2009-12-08 14:18:40

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