How does Religion Affect the Workplace Essay

The issue concerning the affect of religion in the workplace is an actual one in our modern society. As the United States is a country of great diversity, the employees in the United States represent people of different races and nationalities as well as different religious backgrounds. Of course, in the ideal work environment there will be no any conflicts regarding religious beliefs of the employees and the employers. Nevertheless, there are some cases when religious principles can create serious conflicts. According to the laws in the United States, namely Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, private employers have no right to discriminate their employees on several bases which include race, color, religion, sex, or nationality. Different State laws are also against discrimination. It is known that the US courts distinguish several forms of prohibited discrimination:
disparate treatment of the employer. For example, if the employer does not want to hire or give promotion to the employees of some particular religion.
hostile environment in the workplace. For example, if the colleagues harass the employee on the basis of his faith. This point may include threats and insults connected with religious background of the employee.
disparate impact discrimination. For example, if there is a rule in the organization which forbids the employees to wear any form of hat during the working day as well as to wear some particular dress.(Religion in the Workplace)
The root causes of religious discrimination in the workplace are the following ones:
the root causes on the historical background. For example, religious discrimination during the American Civil War.
The influence of family relation to this or that religion also may be the root cause of religious discrimination in the workplace.
The root causes of religious discrimination are also connected with some personal relation to this or that religion, namely revenge or blood feud and others.
Religious discrimination in the workplace can be avoided. The following resolutions will help to do it:
to read lectures which will help to avoid conflicts on the basis of religious disagreements.
To make everything possible to avoid fights, scandals, insults, offensive language and to make a compromise.
In case of serious aggression it is better to go to the law and to look for justice there. (Wilson)
According to the statistical data, workplace discrimination in most cases relates to African-Americans, Asians and Caucasians. As the representatives of these races have different religious beliefs very often they are not treated fairly. That is why it will be better to involve the legal agents or the police officers to control the situation in the organization and to explain the employees that religious discrimination is illegal and that they will carry punishment in case of assaults on the religious basis. One more thing is that the employers should pay more attention to the atmosphere in the workplace environment and to dismiss the guilty employers in case of assaults on the religious basis without any delay.