News & Analysis as of August 11, 2025

Title VII › Wage and Hour › Religious Accommodation

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1964 and aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Title VII... more +

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1964 and aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Title VII has been subsequently extended to discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and sexual stereotypes and to prohibit sexual harassment. Title VII applies to all employers with fifteen or more employees including private employers, state and local governments, and educational institutions. less -

Facial Hair, Firefighters, and Free Exercise

Cozen O'Connor on 6/26/2025

A single exception can now unravel your entire workplace safety policy. The Third Circuit's decision on May 30, 2025, in Smith v. Atlantic City, underscores how even minor exceptions to grooming or masking rules can expose...more

Tips for Restaurants, Retailers When Faced With Sabbath Day Requests

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 5/9/2024

Imagine you manage a busy restaurant, and you are working on the schedule for next week. Saturday is your busiest day, and you need all hands on deck, so you need to schedule everyone for that day. Just when you have the...more

Chutzpah and the shifting defenses to requests for religious accommodation

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 3/12/2024

Chutzpah is a Yiddish word derived from the Aramaic ḥuṣpāh. It means impudence, gall, and an audacious disregard for rules. In the world of employment law, it can aptly describe employees who try to get what they want...more

New Year’s Review of Legal Changes in Employment Accommodation

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on 1/5/2024

The New Year serves as a time to take note of some significant employment law changes in the past year to longstanding rules and requirements regarding employer accommodation obligations. This article addresses a U.S. Supreme...more

What the Changed Standard for Religious Accommodations Means for the Shift-Based Retail Industry

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 11/2/2023

The retail industry is a shift-based industry, dependent on workers signing up for weekday and weekend shifts, for holidays, and for times when few average workers would dream of being awake and at work. What if an employee...more

Religious Accommodations, Part Deux: Is the religious belief sincere?

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 10/19/2023

In Part One of this two-part bulletin, we explored the expansive meaning of religious beliefs entitled to an accommodation under Title VII and the reluctance of courts to second guess whether a belief is “religious” in...more

Religious accommodations, Part 1: What’s a “religion”?

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 10/17/2023

On September 25 a federal court in New York dismissed a lawsuit accusing an employer of failing to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs as a member of the “Temple of the Healing Spirits” located in “Deland city,...more

Hair, beards, and the invigorated duty to accommodate religious practices

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 9/22/2023

Hair. In some religions it is considered a sacred gift from God that should not be cut. In other religions, it must be styled, covered, or cut in particular ways. These religious practices may result in employees’ requesting...more

Accommodations Developments Add Scheduling Challenges for Retailers

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 9/15/2023

For retail establishments, developments involving religious accommodation and the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) make scheduling employees more challenging. Religious Accommodation- The U.S. Supreme Court...more

SCOTUS 2023 Lookback and 2024 Preview: 7 Critical Decisions All Employers Should Review and 3 New Cases to Track

Fisher Phillips on 7/27/2023

The Supreme Court’s blockbuster decisions last term dominated the headlines – and many rulings will have a lasting impact on employer practices. The Justices continued to shape the workplace law landscape by ruling on an...more

SCOTUS Makes it Harder for Employers to Establish an Undue Burden Defense in Religious Accommodation Cases

Fox Rothschild LLP on 7/10/2023

In the flurry of controversial U.S. Supreme Court rulings issued at the end of this term, one unanimous opinion flew under the radar which impacts how employers must accommodate religious practices and expressions of their...more

The Supreme Court’s New Test for Determining Undue Hardship for Religious Accommodation Requests— A “Substantial” Change

Roetzel & Andress on 7/3/2023

In an Opinion dated June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court unanimously created a new, more difficult standard for employers to apply in weighing the burden a worker’s religious accommodation request would impose on...more

Supreme Court Sets Higher Standard for Employers to Justifiably Deny Religious Accommodation Requests

Amundsen Davis LLC on 6/30/2023

In Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General (No. 22-174, June 29, 2023 Slip Opinion), the US Supreme Court held that Title VII requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an...more

Supreme Court Clarifies Religious Accommodation Undue Burden Test Under Title VII

Warner Norcross + Judd on 6/30/2023

Yesterday, in Gerald E. Groff v. Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General, the United States Supreme Court clarified what an employer must show if it denies an employee’s request for a workplace accommodation based on religious...more

Littler Lightbulb – April Employment Appellate Roundup

Littler on 5/2/2023

This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal over the last month. ...more

Religious accommodation at the Supreme Court

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 4/21/2023

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case I blogged about in January. The case is about what standard of "undue hardship" should apply in religious accommodation cases. Under every...more

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on Title VII Religious Accommodation Standard

Littler on 4/19/2023

On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case raising the issue of how great a burden an employer must bear in order to accommodate an employee’s religious belief or practices....more

Will U.S. Supreme Court Place an Undue Hardship on Employers When It Decides Groff v. DeJoy?

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 2/6/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether its own definition of “undue hardship” with respect to religious accommodation requests, which employers have relied upon for more than 45 years, remains valid when it hears...more

SCOTUS to Take Another Look at Religious Accommodations

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. on 2/2/2023

Employment litigators and Constitutional Law attorneys alike should pay close attention to the United States Supreme Court’s calendar, as the Court recently agreed to take up a case that has the potential to change the way...more

SCOTUS will review religious accommodation standard

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 1/27/2023

"Undue hardship" defense is likely to become tougher. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the undue hardship standard in religious accommodation cases. We expect the standard to become more difficult for employers...more

Dear Littler: How Do We Handle Requests for Time Off for Religious Observance?

Littler on 10/21/2022

Dear Littler: We are a retail store with locations across the country. We are open seven days a week, and our sales staff have rotating shifts to provide coverage throughout the week. A number of employees in several of...more

Employment Law Now VI-116-Top 10 Employment Issues To Consider For The Summer Kick-Off

Cozen O'Connor on 5/31/2022

As we approach the unofficial start to Summer 2022, today's new episode addresses the 10 issues that should be on the radar of all employers....more

Charting The Risk Associated With Common Workplace COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Programs

Fisher Phillips on 1/27/2021

Now that a COVID-19 vaccine is becoming increasingly available, how can employers encourage employees to receive it? Beyond requiring the shots as a mandatory condition of employment – which is not an option many employers...more

Deck the Halls (with a lawsuit-free holiday season!)

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 11/17/2020

Holding the company holiday party in an adult venue – yes or no? How can we serve booze while minimizing risk? What reasonable religious accommodations might be available to an employee under Title VII? Do we need to pay...more

25th Annual Labor & Employment Seminar - The Labor & Employment Year in Review: Is It Over Yet? West Coast Session

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Employment Law... on 11/9/2020

Monday, October 26 - The Labor & Employment Year in Review: Is It Over Yet? Hinshaw labor and employment attorneys from the Midwest, East Coast, and West Coast addressed developments in the ever-changing landscape of...more

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