Bronx, NY asked in Employment Discrimination for New York

Q: I’m PerDiem employee. I emailed my boss saying I can no longer work Sundays. I’m Christian. She said no. She can do this

Can I say for religious reasons ? Church is very important to me. It wasn’t a problem before. I didn’t work Sundays in the beginning - I only worked Sundays now because of Covid. Church was closed. But now it’s going to open.

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1 Lawyer Answer
J.R.  Skrabanek
J.R. Skrabanek
Answered
  • Employment Law Lawyer
  • New York, NY
  • Licensed in New York

A: Your employer is within its rights to not exempt you from having to work on Sundays so long as the employer does not provide preferential treatment to other co-workers of different faiths. If, for example, the employer gives other non-Christian employees one day off each week for their own religious holidays, it could be subject to liability under the Civil Rights Act for disparate treatment. However, so long as the employer treats all the employees equally in denying requests for time off for religious reasons, it may do so without breaking any laws.

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