Accommodating Muslim employees during Ramadan

Published on September 24, 2007 by Donna Seale

On September 13, people of Muslim faith began observing the holy month of Ramadan. Describing it very simply, during Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown (no food or drink). After sundown, the fast is broken each night with a special meal, prayer and gathering with family. At the end of Ramadan, a special feast is held and further prayer occurs.

Under human rights legislation in Canada, employees are protected from discrimination in the workplace on the basis of religion. This means that employers have the duty to accommodate employees whose religious requirements come into conflict with the requirements of the workplace. As a result, an employer would be required to resolve the employee’s conflict to enable her to meet her religious needs by making changes to the workplace requirements subject to undue hardship. So, for example, Muslim employees might require flexibility in their work schedules during Ramadan.

While the concept of undue hardship will be discussed in a future post, for now, I would say that undue hardship represents the limit of how far an employer is required to go to accommodate the needs of any employee when those needs are tied to a protected ground under human rights legislation (for example, religion, sex, disability, etc.). What amounts to undue hardship in a given situation is determined on a case-by-case basis. Some of the factors that are usually taken into account in determining undue hardship are cost, disruption to a collective agreement, size of the business, safety, interchangeability of the work force and facilities and problems of morale of other employees (but note, though, in provinces such as Ontario, the factors considered are limited to cost, health and safety, and the availability of outside sources of funding). Based on the undue hardship factors and how the courts are interpreting them, in most instances employers will not reach the undue hardship limit when it comes to accommodating religion in the workplace. In other words, employers should assess requests for religious accommodation from the starting point that, somehow, they ought to be able to modify the workplace to meet the employee’s needs.

For employees who require religious accommodation, they should follow any policy their employer has in place setting out how to make accommodation requests. If no such policy is in place, then employees are best advised to do the following:

advise your employer about your need for accommodation. This is your duty under the law. It is best to provide your request for accommodation in writing;
be clear about what you are asking for. Remember that your employer may have little, if any, knowledge about your religion or what is required of you to observe your faith;
provide your employer with suggestions about how your needs could be accommodated in light of the requirements of your workplace. You are often in the best position to come up with a solution to the conflict between the workplace’s requirements and that of your religion.

As for employers, they should:

develop a policy and procedure for addressing religious accommodation in the workplace;
accept all requests for religious accommodation with an open mind and in good faith;
explore all possible means to provide accommodation to the employee making such a request, to the point of undue hardship;
take opportunities, both informal and formal, to educate the workplace about the religious needs of its various employees. Consider asking employees who have made requests for religious accommodation to participate in such education sessions. Raising awareness about different religions in the workplace contributes to a greater understanding of co-workers’ needs in this area.

For further reading on this topic:

Winnipeg Free Press: "More workplaces accommodate staff during Ramadan"

HRinfodesk: "Ramadan and the workplace – a guide for human resources"

Kwintessential Crosscultural Solutions:"Muslims, Ramadan and the Workplace – A Guide for HR"

Categories: Best practices,Diversity,In the News,Reasonable Accommodation