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ABSTRACT
There are several million Muslims living and working in the United States. Given that it is not a mainstream religion in the United States, there is a great deal of misunderstanding surrounding its beliefs and practices. To that end, the basis practices and beliefs as it relates to the workplace are reviewed. Recommendations are provided for dealing with religious accommodation requests within the confines of federal law and sound management practices.
INTRODUCTION
The Civil Rights Act (EEOC, 2013) not only prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion but it also requires religious beliefs to be accommodated absent an undue hardship. Within any organization, it is up to management to ensure compliance, whatever the religious practice unless it's too costly. Religion encompasses many dimensions that management may need to address such as clothing, grooming, prayer, and religious observances. A recent survey (Pew Forum, 2010) reveals that 84% of Americans are affiliated with a particular faith. While 78% of the U.S. population identify themselves as Christian, there are many other religions that are non-Christian (Pew Forum, 2010).
One of the more prominent and misunderstood religions in the United States under scrutiny today is Islam. There are approximately 1.62 billion practicing Muslims, which consist of 23% of the world population (Pew Forum, 2010). Based on U.S. Census data, Pew Research (2010) estimates that there are approximately 2.75 million Muslims living in the United States. Many are refugees from Kosovo, Somalia, and Bosnia.
Sisk and Heise (2012) reported that in lower federal court decisions rendered between 1996 and 2005 that Muslims in the United States were "nearly alone among religiously diverse groups" and while they do prevail in many cases they are statistically more unsuccessful in receiving judgments that support religious accommodation. However, the researchers concluded after controlling for other relevant variables that religious bias within the justice system was a significantly related to the adverse decision outcomes.
This bias or misunderstanding of the Islam can arguably be related to the 35% increase in Islamic discrimination charges with the EEOC since 2001 (Aziz, 2013). Islam has a number of religious practices that could impact the workplace. Some customs may be easily accommodated depending on the work environment, while others could cause an undue hardship. The purpose...