Making room for faith: Handling religious expression at the office

Legal knowledge, administrative common sense and sensitivity can help balance the rights of believers to proclaim their beliefs and of nonbelievers to be left alone.

By Larry Stevens, AMNews correspondent. Feb. 11, 2008.

You might have office staff or colleagues who want to display signs of their faith on jewelry, clothes or desks, discuss their religion's tenets, or even openly proselytize fellow staff and patients. You might have just as many office staff or colleagues who would rather not be bothered about religion or are openly hostile to it.

So how are doctors supposed to deal with that conflict without upsetting employees, ending up in court, or appearing on a cable news talk show as the latest example of the "war on Christmas"?

The legalities of handling religion in the workplace require that you make reasonable accommodations for people's religious beliefs, but there can be a fine line between what is reasonable and what is not. Experts say allowing people to express themselves through religious displays and conversations, while allowing nonbelievers their space, is as much about good management as being aware of the law.

The law governing religion in the workplace is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion. It mandates that companies make reasonable attempts to accommodate employees' religious practices.

The federal law applies to businesses with 15 or more employees, but some states apply the requirements to smaller firms. And, experts say it is not clear whether doctors who are partners would be counted. In any case, except for a solo or perhaps a two-person practice, it's best to play it safe and assume you're required to comply with the law, experts say.