Religion has been in the news big time recently. This week, some90% of Americans are expected to observe Christmas in some way — basedon an earlier Pew survey. Other recent news relates tothe Muslim and Jewish faiths.

It follows that religious practice is important to manyemployees, and employers should be sensitive to their religiouslyobservant and non-observant employees.

New guidance came from the recent EEOCv. Abercrombie & Fitch decision fromthe Supreme Court.

“With the 8-1 decision in Abercrombie, and aproliferation of religious accommodation litigation more generally,there is a heightened awareness among employers of the need to considerreasonable accommodation for religious reasons,” Dawn ReddySolowey, an attorney at Seyfarth Shaw, said about the ruling.

“The key legal holding inthe Abercrombie decision is that an employer maynot make an applicant’s or employee’s religious practice, confirmedor otherwise, a factor in employment decisions,” she explained toCU Times sister site InsideCounsel. “Anemployer who has any reason to believe, or even suspect, thataccommodation may be necessary … will need to consider engaging inan ‘interactive process’ with an applicant or employee to determineif there is a reasonable accommodation available that does notimpose an undue hardship on the employer.”

There has been a focus recently on the accommodation ofreligious garb and grooming, following 2014 EEOC guidance. That mayrelate to facial hair, long hair, head coverings, religiousclothing or jewelry, tattoos and body art. Also, this couldconflict with employers’ internal policies on uniforms, grooming,professional appearance or safety policies.

“Do not ask applicants or employees directly about religion orreligious practices, and do not assume anything about anapplicant’s or employee’s religion based on stereotypes,” Soloweyadvised.

But when an employer suspects, a “potential conflict between areligious practice and a work rule … the employer should explainthe work rule and ask if the rule would pose any problem for theapplicant or employee,” she suggested.

For example, if a job applicant comes to an interview wearingreligious clothing that violates the employer’s uniform policy, theemployer should communicate the rule and ask if that rule wouldpose any issues for the applicant, according to Solowey.

“This invites the applicant to disclose any conflict, but avoidsa direct inquiry into the applicant’s religious practice,” sheexplained. “If the applicant says that there is no conflict, theemployer should leave it at that. But if the applicant says thatthere is a conflict, the employer should ask why. If the applicantcites a religious reason, the employer must engage in theinteractive process to explore whether a reasonable accommodationcan be provided without undue hardship.”

William Nolan, an attorney at Barnes &Thornburg, said the best advice for employees and their religiousobservance in the workplace, is that if employers have “any reasonto believe that an employee practice that is not standard in yourworkplace is for religious reasons, at least analyze whether theremight be a religious accommodation issue before taking any actionsuch as disciplining the employee.”

Training of managers is also important in this area.

Moreover, are there any suggestions in regard to Muslimemployees – given recent events?

“In the current climate, and given the spike in anti-Muslimrhetoric in the public discourse, employers are wise to have aheightened awareness around ensuring a workplace that is respectfulof all religions,” Solowey advised. “As always, employers andsupervisors should be careful not to engage in stereotyping basedon any employee’s religion. The employer’s policies should makeclear that harassment based on religion will not be tolerated, andexplain clearly how employees can report violations of the policy.Any report of religious harassment, by Muslim employees oremployees of any faith, should be investigated immediately and if aviolation is found, the employer should take prompt correctiveaction.”

Moreover, Nolan advised employers to act “on facts andinformation about an individual employee, not assumptions [on] theemployee’s faith ….”

“You almost certainly have employees who have political viewsthat Muslims do not belong in American workplaces. Their views,even if widely held in your workplace, are not going to relieve youof your obligation to provide a Muslim employee with a workplacefree of harassment based on his/her religion," Nolad continued.

Similarly, Janie Schulman, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’sEmployment and Labor practice group, said that despite the “extremerhetoric of certain politicians, Muslim employees continue to enjoythe same protection against religious discrimination as otheremployees, and they should not be expected to forego thoserights.”

“At the same time, it would be naïve to assume that allemployers and co-workers are sensitive to those rights,” she added.“A little education will hopefully go a long way toward improvingthose sensitivities.”

As far as guidance for supervisors or business owners whothemselves want to observe their own religion, they should “notimpose their religion on their employees,” Schulman said.