Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplace

Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplace

It is lunchtime at Acme Incorporated on a Friday. Since the workers have been pulling extra shifts and working their hardest the managers decide to provide lunch for their employees. For lunch there are sandwiches with ham, roast beef, salami and cheese. There is also a cob salad and some soda. The managers wanted to show their appreciation to their workers but there are some employees who feel left out. The Muslims cannot come to this lunch because it is during their required prayer time. Some Jewish workers come to lunch and see the spread of food and are disappointed because what is provided is not kosher. Their Hindu friend is also with them but his religion states that he cannot eat any meat at all. There are even some Catholic Christians who are upset because this lunch is during lent and for that time period they do not eat meat. A gesture of thankfulness has unintentionally turned into a lunch of exclusion. (Bennett)

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act states that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion. America is a very diverse place in general and the religious diversity of the workforce has made an impact on religious considerations in the workplace. (Mathis and Jackson) A survey done by the American Religious Identification Survey shows that from 1990 to 2008, non-Christian religious groups and faiths have increased in the United States by 3 million, to 8.8 million. (Gelb)

Having religious diversity in the workplace can benefit the company with different viewpoints and may help with tolerance and acceptance. It can be, at the same time, a difficult challenge from the human resource perspective. As mentioned in the scenario above, there are people who are left out of company gatherings and lunch ins because of their differing religions. To help with this diversity there are a few guidelines that a company can follow so that they will be enhanced by this...