Must employers allow employees to display religious items in their work area?

An employer may have a consistently applied workplace policy that prohibits all religious items from being displayed in the workplace. However, an employer cannot allow items of one particular faith and not others. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides the following example of disparate treatment of religious expression in the workplace in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: "if an employer allowed one secretary to display a Bible on her desk at work while telling another secretary in the same workplace to put the Quran on his desk out of view."

In some cases, an employer may allow employees to display religious items in private work areas but prohibit the display of religious items where the employee's workspace is in a common area, such as the company receptionist's desk in the main lobby. However, EEOC guidance indicates that "Employers should not try to suppress all religious expression in the workplace. Title VII requires that employers accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious belief in engaging in religious expression in the workplace to the extent that they can do so without undue hardship on the operation of the business."

Employers should develop clear policies on displays of religious expression at work to avoid uncertainty and inconsistent application and treatment.

See Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace.