Workplace Rights for Christians

Recent statistics show that, second only to sleep, Americans spend the majority of their time in the workplace. The average full-time American worker spends 8.3 hours a day on the job. Because of the large amount of time spent at work, many Christians recognize that the workplace provides an obvious opportunity for witnessing. But these Christians are now facing increasing opposition from their employers when they engage in witnessing activities at work.

The Christian Law Association receives numerous calls and emails every day from employees who have been warned that “religion has no place in the workplace.” Some employees have even been terminated for exercising their right to religious expression.

Unfortunately, company officials often do not understand the religious rights of their employees and sometimes wrongfully discipline them for activities that are entirely appropriate. Far too often, employers mistakenly treat religious speech like sexual harassment and create a “zero tolerance” policy for religion that is similar to policies for sexual harassment. Religious speech and sexual harassment, however, are concepts that are worlds apart. Religious speech enjoys both constitutional and statutory protections that have never been granted for sexual harassment.

Here are a few examples of recent calls to our office:

	A state university department supervisor called when he was facing disciplinary action for violating the university’s “harassment” policy. Human Resources personnel informed him that, because he was a supervisor, he could never talk about religion to another employee. This interpretation of the law was incorrect.
	Another employee of a large retail establishment in Illinois frequently shared her faith with her co-workers. Because, this employee knew the laws controlling religious speech in the workplace, she always made a point of asking her co-workers to tell her if they did not want to discuss religion with her. None of her co-workers ever complained to her, yet, she was terminated for violating the store’s “harassment policy.”
	Another Florida employee called our office wondering why his employer could instruct him to cease all voluntary religious discussions with co-workers, while employees who consistently violated the company’s profanity policy were never disciplined.

As these individuals learned, the key to being an effective witness in the workplace is to understand exactly what your rights to witness are in that context. Some important questions to consider are:

	Is sharing your faith ever harassment?
	Are there greater restrictions on religious expression for supervisors?
	Does it matter if you are witnessing to your company’s customers or your co-workers?
	Do the laws vary depending on whether you are employed in the private sector or by the government?

RELIGIOUS DISCUSSIONS WITH CO-WORKERS

The Title VII Civil Rights Law of 1964 provides the general rules for all private workplaces employing fifteen or more people. One key principle of that law is that when employees are permitted to discuss politics, family, sports or other topics on the job, religious conversations with co-workers may not be prohibited. The water cooler and employee lunchroom are a type of public forum where citizens share ideas and interact at a variety of levels. A company that allows employees to engage in other non-work-related conversations may not prohibit voluntary religious discussions between employees.

In informal settings, such as break rooms or hallways, and at times when co-workers voluntarily interact about non work related issues, religious employees may discuss their religious views or voluntarily pray together. The same rules apply that would apply to any private employee conversations.

For instance, other employees may not stop religious exchanges simply because they can be overheard. An employee for a large retail store in Indiana called our office. She and several other employees met informally and as privately as possible for a brief word of prayer before clocking in for the day. They asked God to bless their supervisors and co-workers and prayed for other needs. One day, company management asked the group to stop this practice because another employee had been offended when she saw them quietly praying. Attorneys for CLA helped to inform store management that another worker’s offense at this quiet religious activity did not justify prohibiting it in the workplace. If the workers had been discussing the previous night’s TV programming, no question would have been raised.

Despite these clear legal principles, our office often receives calls from Christian employees facing discipline for sharing their faith. Incredibly, some employers will allow non-Christian religious expression, yet forbid religious expression from Christians. For example, attorneys for CLA recently assisted an employee who was disciplined for sharing his Christian perspective on suicide and salvation with a co-worker who had just expressed his belief in reincarnation and stated that he was contemplating suicide. The employee who called us had actually been terminated for pleading with his co-worker not to commit suicide and for sharing the hope of life found in Jesus Christ!

Limits on Religious Discussions with Co-workers

While Christian employees have broad rights to express their faith to co-workers, there are two basic limitations that must be followed.

1) An employee must not allow religious discussions to interfere with his work. An employer has the right to insist on the employee’s full attention during working hours. A Christian employee should be careful not to create even the perception that religious discussions are interfering with his job performance. Also, if an employee is ever disciplined for religious expression, it is easier to prove that the religion topic is the reason for the discipline if the employee has a good work reputation and a clean record as an excellent, dedicated employee. In one recent case, attorneys for CLA were able to point to the employee’s glowing Performance Evaluations (copies of which he always kept at home) when management insisted the Christian employee was not a victim of religious discrimination, but was being disciplined for poor work performance.

2) If other employees indicate, either directly or indirectly, that they do not wish to discuss matters of religion, the Christian employee should immediately stop discussing religion with those employees. If the religious discussions with those particular employees do not stop, the employee could legitimately be disciplined for harassment. Attorneys for CLA tell Christians to think of this legitimate workplace rule in terms of “the shoe being on the other foot.” If a Christian works with a Satanist, that Christian worker also has the right to prevent the Satanist from talking to him. This precaution does not mean, however, that every time someone who has asked you not to talk about religion walks into the room, your conversation with others must stop. But you should be sure not to direct the religious conversation to the employee who has objected. Religious conversations at work should take place privately and voluntarily. In fact, it may be wise to take a conversation elsewhere when a person who has objected comes on the scene, since this type of person would be most likely to press the issue and attempt to create problems for the Christian employee.

RELIGIOUS DISCUSSIONS WITH CUSTOMERS OR CLIENTS

Although there is nothing to prevent Christians from discussing their faith with co-workers during free time on the job, any employer, whether public or private, is permitted to restrict employee conversations with clients, patients, or customers about religion. On the other hand, a business owner may also choose to permit such religious conversations with clients, patients, or customers--and many do. The decision regarding religious conversations with clients, patients, or customers rests with the private employer and not the employee.

One California employee called our office after he was terminated for engaging in a religious conversation with a client. The employee had inquired about a mutual acquaintance who happened to be a pastor. The client then shared that this pastor was encouraging her and her children to attend church and that she was excited to have her children learning about the Bible. Another employee reported this completely voluntary conversation to a supervisor and the Christian employee was terminated. Attorneys for CLA believe this termination was unlawful, both because the Christian employee had never been instructed not to discuss religion and because it was the client herself who brought the religious topic into the conversation.

CHRISTIAN EMPLOYERS AND SUPERVISORS

There is no limitation at all on the right of a Christian employer to witness to his customer base. In fact, many Christian employers regularly incorporate witnessing into their business practices. For example, Christian employers may place a gospel tract in outgoing mail, print Bible verses on company invoices, purchase orders or other commercial documents, and answer the phone with Christian greetings, either on a regular basis or on special religious holidays such as Christmas.

Despite the right Christian employers have to share their faith with their customers, federal and state laws control the rights of Christian business owners with respect to their employees. It is not unusual for employers to call the Christian Law Association about their own rights in the workplace. Many Christian employers express a desire to witness to the spiritual needs of their employees, and, at the same time, they want to comply with employment laws relating to religious activity in order to avoid being sued.

It is important for Christian employers and supervisors to become familiar with their own obligations under Title VII law. Familiarity with this law will free an employer to continue an active witness to employees and prevent him from being immobilized by fear of lawsuits from employees. The same rules apply to both employers and supervisors.

While Title VII law only applies to private businesses with fifteen or more employees and to government employers, employers with fewer than fifteen employees may also be subject to state requirements that make it unlawful to discriminate against employees on the basis of religion. Religious organizations, such as churches and ministries, are generally exempt from all Title VII religious requirements.

Under Title VII, business owners or supervisors are permitted to communicate their religious beliefs through their company policies and practices provided that (1) they do not give prospective employees or current workers the perception that employment or advancement in the company requires an employee to adopt the religious beliefs of the employees; (2) they do accommodate employee objections, and (3) they do not require employees to participate in religious worship experiences.

In short, an employer or supervisor is free to witness to employees so long as he is careful to accommodate those employees who indicate an objection to any of the company’s religious practices, and so long as employees are clearly informed that their religious beliefs or non-beliefs play no role in decisions regarding hiring, termination, promotion or in the terms, conditions, or privileges or employment.

A supervisor from California who was terminated for witnessing to a volunteer contacted our office. The conversation had occurred after hours at work and the volunteer and his supervisor had been friends and co-workers at another company in the past. When the supervisor’s application for continuing employment was later denied because he lacked qualifications, he believed the real reason for the denial was the religious discussion with the volunteer. The supervisor’s conversation had been legally appropriate, however, because the timing and tone of the discussion did not indicate that volunteer’s belief or non-belief affected his employment.

CONCLUSION

As the above examples show, there is growing hostility in modern America to religious speech in the workplace. However, despite some employers’ desire to create a “religion free workplace,” Christians continue to have the right, subject to the limitations discussed above, to witness in the workplace. If you are an employee facing difficulties for sharing your faith in the workplace, please contact our ministry. Attorneys for CLA will be happy to provide you with information regarding your rights and assist you if you are disciplined or terminated for sharing your faith in the workplace.

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