Another unfortunate workplace/prayer dispute in Brillon, Wisconsin as new policies at Ariens Manufacturing calls for religious employees to limit when they can pray at work. Instead of being allowed to pray twice during their shifts, the new policy calls for observant employees to pray only once during their meal time (the Islamic faith requires Muslims to pray fives times a day).
“It is absolutely discrimination on its face,” says employee, Adan Hurr, who is Muslim. “Allow me to pray so that I can go back to work and do what I love to do, which is working for Ariens. But we are not allowed to do that.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stipulates that companies do not have to accommodate a religious practice if it causes “undue hardship” to the employer by decreasing “workplace efficiency.” “What one company thinks is an undue hardship is not actually. It is always a matter of debate and compromise,” says Ibrahim Hooper, Director for the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Mr. Hooper says that federal law requires employers to offer “reasonable religious accommodations” to employees of all faith.
