Religious Sensibilities
This is the story detailing (rather generally) how my younger brother got screwed over by the professed religious beliefs of some other people. He is a lifeguard at a pool, and the busiest day of the week is usually Saturday. There is a team of about 10 lifeguards or so (I'm a little hazy about the details, but the point will be valid) and, as a rule, none of them really want to work on Saturday. You spend more shifts on the chair, the shifts are more stressful, and it more or less just sucks.
The obviously fair solution to this dilemma is to rotate who has to work on Saturday. If 6 people are required to work every Saturday, then 4 people will get Saturday off every week, which seems mostly fair. However, no less than five of the lifeguards are Jewish people who are religious enough to not work on Saturday. They demand to have every Friday off (presumably so they can go pray in a specific place in the morning, because God doesn't listen to people at swimming pools). That leaves only 5 non-religious people to cover a shift that normally takes six people.
So, not only is my brother forced to work every single Saturday, but the pool has a lifeguard shortage during that day as well since they can't get enough staff to fill all the positions. As a result, he pretty much doesn't get any breaks during the day.
Offhand, this is completely unacceptable. Religion is a personal choice that you inflict upon your own life, not somebody else's. If those religious lifeguards felt that they would not be able to fulfill their duties (which includes being available on the busiest day of the week), then they should not have applied for the job. If they refuse to work on Saturday, they should be fired and alternate lifeguards should be found who would be willing to actually do the job that they were hired to do.
The same goes with any other religious beliefs. If you want to carry a dagger around with you, fantastic! However, don't apply to be a steward on a plane if they have a "no weapon" policy that you don't want to follow. If you need to get 5 breaks a day to pray, don't work on an assembly line that can't really handle that type of interruption. If God tells you that Sunday is a day of rest, don't work for an establishment that is open on Sunday. If your special holy book says that you need to wear a big black covering because men become sex-crazed animals if they see your naked face, then by all means wear it. However, don't join an organization that has uniforms and expect to be given special treatment.
If you have religious beliefs, then it is up to you to follow them while conforming to the rules of the job that you have freely chosen to undertake. It is not up to your employer to conform to you. Freedom of religion cuts both ways, you are free to do whatever you want in the name of your God, but don't expect me to change the rules for you.
3 Comments:
Well, as much as I’d like to agree with you, the Human Rights Code says differently. Having said that, I think it’s the Pool’s responsibility to hire enough people to adequately cover all the shifts. What does your brother’s contract say? I imagine he signed something acknowledging the fact that there were Saturday shifts. Regardless, your brother is Jewish, so he should ‘join the club’. He should learn early that people will take advantage of any opportunity they get to ‘beat the system’. Obviously, he has rights too. If nothing else, I imagine he’s entitled to overtime if he works more than 8 hours in a day.
The Human Rights Code does say, "Where a rule conflicts with religious requirements, there is a duty to ensure that individuals are able to observe their religion, unless this would cause undue hardship because of cost, or health and safety reasons".
I suppose it could be argued that having too few and/or overworked lifeguards is a health/safety concern.
It's really hard to disagree with that sort of logic, if they knew that a Saturday work requirement was part of the job when they signed on then they have to live with it - or find another job.
Of course if the issue is forced screams of antisemitism will echo throgh the hills and their supervisor will be the one lookng for a new job.
From Paul:
The Human Rights Code does say, "Where a rule conflicts with religious requirements, there is a duty to ensure that individuals are able to observe their religion, unless this would cause undue hardship because of cost, or health and safety reasons". Interesting, I didn't think that cost would be a reasonable factor. Obviously, the term "undue hardship" is very ambiguous, but at least the concept is there. In this case, the cost would be hiring extra lifeguards, so offhand I would say that it is undue hardship in terms of cost. :)
From StageLeft:
Of course if the issue is forced screams of antisemitism will echo throgh the hills and their supervisor will be the one lookng for a new job.As is always the case whenever people trample on the religious sensitivities of others. If you want to take a random day off because you feel like communing with nature, forget it! If you want to take a day off because your holy book says that you need to commune with God, sure.
From Daniel:
the pools should hire or not hire them accordinglySo, is it the responsability of the pool to ask if potential hires are available on all days, or is it the responsability of the applicant to make that clear?
In particular, is it reasonable for me not to hire somebody because they are religious and as a result are likely to want to take days off that I can't or don't really want to give them?
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