religious exemption vaccination letter for work california

What counts as a bona fide religious belief or practice? (And does a pastor’s note help?)Īn employee does not need a note from a religious leader in order to establish a bona fide religious belief or practice. When an employee asks for an accommodation to avoid an employment duty or to circumvent an employer’s policy, the employer must determine two things: a) whether the employee’s bona fide religious belief or practice conflicts with an employment duty and b) whether accommodating the religious belief or practice would result in “undue hardship” for the employer.Ī. As the EEOC summarizes, this means that “he law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.”įor California law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) prohibits the same sort of discrimination and harassment on the basis of “religious creed.”ĭespite the differing language, these protections are more or less identical. An employee can sue for discrimination, for failure to engage in an interactive process, or for failure to accommodate under either or both laws if not provided a religious exemption when such an exemption is appropriate.įor federal law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of religion. What sort of religious belief or religious practice qualifies for a religious exemption?Ī religious exemption is a type of (or a part of) a “reasonable accommodation.” For California employers, both federal and state law require reasonable accommodations for employees’ “sincerely held” religious beliefs and practices, which may mean granting religious exemptions to employer policies or modifying job duties in certain circumstances. Along the way, I’ll address the effect of a “pastor’s note” like those shown in the news story above.ġ.

The answer has two parts: first, what technically qualifies for a religious exemption, and second, how should employers practically address requests for religious exemptions from vaccine mandates. Given the rising tide of mandates, many employers face an urgent question: how do employers handle employee requests for religious exemptions from vaccine mandates, with or without letters written by religious leaders? Now that President Biden is planning to use the emergency powers of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to mandate vaccination for an estimated 100 million employees, the issue is even more prominent.

A news story last month suggested that this church is the place to go for COVID-19 vaccine exemption letters. For those in the Sacramento area, you may have seen large “Destiny” signs overhanging State Route 65 north of Interstate 80.

Religious exemption vaccination letter for work california