Sunday, May 30, 2010

Is Religion Infiltrating our Secular Workplace?

A few years ago, at a well-known game studio in Northern California, a life drawing class for studio employees had to be relocated to another part of the studio because the class featured nude models. Can a life drawing class for adults featuring nude models be such a radical and alarming notion? It turns out that the nudity offended the religious sensibiliites of one of the employees. So, the entire class had to be moved to accommodate the wishes of an employee who brought his religion to work with him.

The Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of religion but it also stipulates the separation of church and state. Employees at secular workplaces -- workplaces that subscribe to no religious affiliations -- should be discouraged from bringing their religious viewpoints to work because these religious views might impinge on others right to a workplace free from religious bias. It is the job of every HR department in a secular workplace to ensure that no religious bias exists -- that no religious beliefs are given special considerations.

A company in Southern California recently passed a policy preventing employees from bringing personal fridges or microwaves in their workplaces. Almost every employee complied with the policy save for at least one employee who argued for a personal microwave and a fridge owing to religious dietary restrictions. There were no questions asked -- the company just caved in and made an exception for this individual.

Do these exceptions not discriminate against others who do not hold such religious beliefs? When we make concessions to certain religious viewpoints in a secular workplace, are we not creating religious biases that are potentially at odds with our Constitution? How can religious views be allowed to trump secular corporate policy and erode the secular nature of the corporate workplace?