Workplace Wars Over Religion

Wars over religion seen in one-third of workplaces, says an article at ReportonBusiness.com

The survey was conducted with 100 Canadian senior executives by staffing service Office Team.

Nearly one-third of employers have seen clashes connected to religion in their workplaces, 31 per cent said that the "unsolicited sharing" of religious views has been a problem, and 13 per cent have seen employees refuse to do certain work or associate with certain co-workers because of their religious beliefs, a survey of 278 organizations by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) finds.

The survey also found that 61 per cent of respondents said they have made an accommodation for an employee based on his or her religious beliefs, 55 per cent of companies provide flexible scheduling to let employees attend religious services, and 33 per cent offer paid time off for religious holidays.

Still, 68 per cent said they "make reasonable accommodations for beliefs and practices," implying the remainder don't. "This is interesting because, by law, all companies are supposed to offer reasonable accommodations," noted i4cp research analyst Anne Lindberg.

The survey also found that almost two-thirds do not have any written policies that specifically address religious bias and just 12 per cent have any written definition of what constitutes a religious belief.

I have the feeling that those who were sharing their religious views without solicitation were not atheists. There would be less of a problem if religious people could resist the urge to convert and conquer.

And where are my paid religious holidays? I think we atheists should make some up...