Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda.
Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh. What are we going to talk about today?
Goodbaum: Well, it is Ramadan, which is the holy season of Islam, and we wish a blessed Ramadan to our Muslim friends who are observing Ramadan. But that made me think, as an employment lawyer, what about Muslim employees who are fasting from sunrise until sunset? They’re not eating, and they’re not drinking during the day; that can make it really hard to work. So, for observant Muslims who are observing Ramadan and might have less energy at work, especially as the day goes on, how can they deal with that with their employers? What rights do these Muslim employees have while they’re observing this holy month?
DeMatteis: Josh, in order for you to have protection on the basis of your religious beliefs under either state or federal law, you need to first tell your employer about it. So, if it’s 2, 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and all of a sudden you just can’t do any work anymore, or your work product is severely declining, you can’t respond to discipline by saying that you’re observing Ramadan. Just like many other areas that are protected under state and federal employment law, we first need to put our employer on notice.
You should tell your employer in advance, “I’m going to be observing Ramadan,” and then if you want an accommodation as a result of that observance, you should ask for one. So, maybe you need to start your workday a little bit earlier. Maybe you need it to end a bit earlier because you’re just not being productive in those later hours of the day when you’re tired and hungry and thirsty (and understandably so). May you want to take a day off. But you’re not entitled to anything unless you ask.
Now, it is very clear that there is protection for both religious discrimination and religious accommodations under Title VII, but federal law only applies to employers with 15 or more employees. So, if you work for a small shop in Connecticut that has fewer than 15 employees, you may not have that same protection for religious accommodation that you would if federal law applied. Now, it’s very likely that, if this issue was to come up in the Connecticut courts, they would do what they customarily do and follow federal court precedent under Title VII, but the law in that area is not yet developed fully.
So, if you are observing Ramadan or any other religious holiday, and you need some type of an accommodation at work, two things: (1) put your employer on notice, and (2) ask for the accommodation, including coming up with what that reasonable accommodation looks like, e.g., starting your day earlier, ending your day earlier, taking some PTO or taking some unpaid time off so that you can observe your religious holiday in a way that is most comfortable for you.
Goodbaum: Great advice, Amanda, and again, we wish a blessed Ramadan to those who are observing. Thanks for watching. We’ll see you next time.