An employee can’t work a particular day because of his religion. You ask him to find a replacement — but he says he can’t do that either. What more do you have to do?

The facts:

An employee refused to work on Saturday for religious reasons. The company said that was fine, as long as he found a replacement. But he said it was also against his religion to ask someone else to work on a Saturday. The company said to work, find a replacement or be fired. The employee sued for religious discrimination.

The employer said:

It didn’t force the employee to work on Saturday — but company policy asked employees to find their own replacements when they needed days off. That was a reasonable enough accommodation.

Who won the case?

Answer: The employee.

Why: Though in many companies, it’s the employee’s responsibility to find a replacement for a shift, the court ruled the company should have made an exception to the policy in this case.

After the first accommodation was refused, the company could have tried other alternatives, such as getting a supervisor to ask employees to change shifts or post a sign asking for volunteers. If those had been tried first, the company may have met its burden.

Courts don’t require employers to take unreasonable steps to accommodate workers’ religious beliefs. But if the company tries one accommodation that doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean they’ve done everything the law requires. Generally, more alternatives need to be considered.

Cite: EEOC v. Texas Hydraulics, Inc.

Tags: co-workers, religion, Saturday, shifts