The Religious Accommodation Knowledge Gap of Corporations and Employees: Does Company Size Matter?

Patricia C. Borstorff, Brent J. Cunningham
(Jacksonville State University, 700 N. Pelham Rd, Jacksonville, AL, USA)

Abstract: The U. S. is the most diverse society religiously in the world as more immigrants arrive with new religions. Religion plays an important role in the values that people hold. Companies develop and disseminate discrimination and harassment policies, assuming that they are protecting their employees’ religious beliefs and the companies’ welfare from employee litigation and complaints. A major finding of our study is that 75% either reported no policy or they were unaware of a religious accommodation policy and 40% reported no policy or that they were not aware of a religious harassment policy. In analyzing the significance between size of company and religious issues, we found those employed by larger companies were more likely to be unsure as to whether or not their employer had religious policies.

Key words: religious accommodation; discrimination; corporate policy; education; religion and work

JEL code: M590