Frequently Asked Questions about religious Accommodation:
The University is required to provide reasonable accommodations for an individual’s sincerely held religious beliefs and practices, defined broadly. Religious beliefs and practices include not only beliefs and practices that come from traditional, organized religions, but also other moral or ethical beliefs and practices that are similarly sincerely held.
A reasonable accommodation is a modification to an environment, practice, or process that allows an individual to follow their religious beliefs or practices.
In the academic context, a reasonable accommodation could include an excused absence, an extension on an assignment or the rescheduling of an exam due to the observation of a religious holiday.
A reasonable accommodation is identified and implemented through an interactive process between the University and the individual seeking an accommodation. An interactive process consists of communication between the individual seeking accommodation and the responsible administrator (e.g., instructor or supervisor). The process is intended to result in identification and implementation of a reasonable accommodation for an individual’s religious beliefs or practices that does not create an undue hardship for the University. The process is generally as follows:
1. First, an individual seeking a reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs or practices must request an accommodation from the appropriate responsible administrator (e.g., instructor or supervisor). An individual seeking an accommodation should:
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- request the accommodation in advance, if possible, and/or as soon as reasonably practicable;
- identify the request as related to religious beliefs or practices;
- identify the work or academic expectation that needs to be modified due to their religious beliefs or practices, and that gives rise to the request for accommodation.
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2. In response to the request for accommodation, the responsible administrator must either:
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- agree to and implement the requested accommodation; or
- engage in an interactive process with the individual seeking an accommodation to determine whether there is another reasonable accommodation.
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The responsible administrator and individual seeking an accommodation are responsible for actively participating in the interactive process in good faith.
3. If the responsible administrator believes that they cannot grant an accommodation request, the responsible administrator should consult with their Human Resources representative, the Equal Opportunity Report and Response office, and/or another appropriate resource before denying the accommodation request.
Denial of an accommodation request may be appropriate when an interactive process fails to result in identification of an accommodation that is reasonable and does not create an undue hardship.
Generally, no. The University is not required to provide the specific accommodation requested by the individual seeking an accommodation. However, if the specific accommodation requested is reasonable and does not cause an undue hardship, a responsible administrator should provide it unless there is a legitimate reason for suggesting an alternative accommodation.
The University does not have to provide an accommodation that is unreasonable. An accommodation for religious beliefs or practices may be unreasonable when it:
1. compromises essential requirements of a course, program, job or activity; or
2. is requested retroactively or in an untimely manner.
The University does not have to provide an accommodation that causes an undue hardship. An accommodation for religious beliefs or practices may cause an undue hardship when:
3. the cost of granting the accommodation is substantial in the overall context of the University’s work, taking into account the accommodation’s practical impact on the University in light of the University’s nature, size, and operating cost;
4. the accommodation jeopardizes the safety of the individual who requires the accommodation or others; or
5. the accommodation imposes an unreasonable burden on other University members.
In determining whether an accommodation would create an undue hardship, a responsible administrator should rely on objective information, not on anticipated or hypothetical hardships to the University that could result from providing the accommodation. In addition, it is not appropriate to determine that an accommodation would create an undue hardship because others might request the same or similar accommodation in the future or because other employees or students think or might think it is unfair.
Moreover, it is not appropriate to determine that an accommodation creates an undue hardship because other University members object to it or are impacted by it, unless the impact on other University members imposes a substantial cost on the University’s work.
An accommodation that would compromise the essential requirements of a University course, program, job, or activity or would fundamentally alter a course, program or activity is not reasonable, and the University is not required to provide such an accommodation.
In the employment context, the essential requirements are the fundamental duties of a position that a person holding the position absolutely must be able to do. For example, a reasonable accommodation may be to provide an employee with a schedule change so they can attend religious services, but it may not be a reasonable accommodation to allow the employee to work fewer hours every week if other employees are not similarly allowed to work fewer hours.
A responsible administrator should generally consult with others, including the Human Resources, and/or the Office of the General Counsel as appropriate, before making a decision that a request for religious accommodations would compromise the essential requirements of a job. In addition, a responsible administrator must be prepared to explain the basis for their determination and consider whether there are alternate reasonable accommodations that should be offered and, if so, offer them.
In the academic context, essential requirements are the learning outcomes (including skills, knowledge, and attitudes) that all students must demonstrate and those that are required to uphold the academic and technical standards and integrity of courses and academic programs. For example, in a course that requires all students to participate in weekly in-class lab experiments, a reasonable accommodation may be to provide a student a 15-minute prayer break during a four-hour class, but it may not be a reasonable accommodation to allow the student to miss a class every week if other students are not similarly allowed to miss class.
When a student requests an accommodation in an academic course or program, the responsible administrator must consult with a group of individuals who are trained, knowledgeable and experienced before making a determination that the requested accommodation would compromise essential course or program requirements. Group members could include faculty subject matter experts, department leaders, a program curriculum committee, and/or pedagogy consultants from CEI. At a minimum, the group should discuss the following questions:
1. What essential course or program requirement does the accommodation compromise?
2. What practical function does this essential requirement serve in the academic course or program?
3. Is there documentation of the essential requirement in the course syllabus, professional standards, certification requirements, or elsewhere?
4. How does the requested accommodation compromise this essential requirement?
5. Has the requested accommodation been provided to any other student (e.g., to a student with an illness or injury or disability)?
6. Is there another way that the student could meet the essential course or program objectives?
An accommodation that is requested retroactively or in an untimely manner might not be reasonable, depending on the circumstances. Students and employees should request an accommodation in advance or as soon as reasonably practicable.
At times, an individual requesting a reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs or practices might not know the exact date on which the accommodation will be needed. In such cases, the individual should provide advance notification to the responsible administrator of general time frame in which the accommodation will be needed.
In order to encourage timely requests for accommodation, responsible administrators should remind students and employees regularly about the process for requesting religious accommodation (e.g., on a syllabus or in communication at the beginning of an academic year).
An accommodation may create an undue hardship when the impact on other University members imposes a substantial cost on the University’s work. For example:
1. A request that an individual be able to work with (or not work with) someone because of that person’s identity (e.g., gender or religion) may create an undue hardship because it infringes on the rights of others.
2. A request that would cause an individual to lose rights under a collective bargaining agreement or another University policy (e.g., a policy relating to seniority rights, a policy prohibiting discrimination or harassment) may create an undue hardship because it infringes on the rights of others.
3. A request that unreasonably compromises safety practices may create an undue hardship because it infringes on the rights of others.
Co-workers’ or classmates’ general complaints or resentment because of another employee’s or student’s reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs or practices does not in itself mean that the accommodation infringes on the rights of others or that it constitutes an undue hardship.
A class absence, missing a scheduled exam, or an absence from work may constitute a reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs or practices, depending on the circumstances.
The University will generally provide accommodations for absences due to the reasonable time it takes for a University member to travel to and from the location where the individual’s religious beliefs or practices are observed, so long as the absence does not compromise an essential requirement of a course, program, job or activity; is not requested retroactively or in an untimely manner; or does not cause an undue burden. For example, a student whose religious practice includes attending a local religious service will generally be excused from class for the travel time to and from the location of the religious service as a reasonable accommodation.
In addition, the University will generally provide accommodations for absences due to travel that is itself part of an individual’s religious beliefs or practices, so long as the absence does not compromise an essential requirement of a course, program, job or activity; is not requested retroactively or in an untimely manner; or does not cause an undue burden. For example, an individual’s absence due to a religious pilgrimage would generally be permitted as a reasonable accommodation if it does not compromise an essential requirement of a course, program, job, or activity; is not requested retroactively or in an untimely manner; and does not cause an undue burden.
In some cases, the University might not provide accommodations for absences due to an individual’s travel to a religious observance outside of the local area. For example, even if the University will accommodate an individual’s request to attend a religious service outside of the local area, it might not also provide an accommodation for extended time needed to travel to attend the religious service.