Yes. The department is required to provide reasonable accommodation to applicants or employees who have sincerely held beliefs in a religion, even if the religion is not widely known. Religious observances or practices may include attending worship services, praying, wearing religious garb or symbols, displaying religious objects, adhering to certain dietary rules, proselytizing or other forms of religious expression, or refraining from certain activities. Whether a practice is religious depends on the employee’s motivation.
Reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs or practices include modifications or adjustments to the application process or the work environment to allow the individual to practice his/her/their religious beliefs without creating an undue hardship on the department. Some examples of religious accommodations include:
For example, if an employee has requested a schedule change to accommodate daily prayers, the department may need to ask for information about the religious observance, such as time and duration of the daily prayers, in order to determine whether accommodation can be granted without posing an undue hardship on the program’s operations.
