Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter. Sent every Monday afternoon.
THE QUESTION
My workplace makes my colleague pray in the stairwell when we have multiple meeting rooms and there’s almost always one available during their prayer times. I’ve told my colleague that they should just go into an unoccupied meeting room. But because they were told to use the stairwell, they don’t want to cause trouble. Is there any legal obligation that requires employers to provide a comfortable place for their employees to pray? Can I make this request on my colleague’s behalf if they feel too shy or nervous to do so?
THE FIRST ANSWER
Omar Abougoush, principal lawyer and owner, Abougoush Law, Edmonton
The short answers are yes and yes, but carefully.
Across Canada, religion is a protected ground under human rights legislation. That means employers cannot discriminate in the workplace because of an employee’s religious beliefs. It also means employers have a duty to reasonably accommodate a person’s religious practices unless it gets to a point of undue hardship.
Accommodation is not a favour. It is a legal obligation.
So, is directing an employee to pray in a stairwell reasonable? In most workplaces, likely not. Stairwells are high traffic, lack privacy and can undermine someone’s dignity. Human rights law is grounded in the preservation of dignity, a principle reinforced by the Supreme Court.
If there are multiple meeting rooms and one is usually empty during prayer times, allowing someone to briefly use that space is unlikely to create hardship for the employer. No one is asking for a permanent prayer room. But when a simple, neutral solution exists, it should be used.
As for raising the issue on a colleague’s behalf, you can raise the issue as a workplace concern or policy question. Most of the time, these issues are resolved with a calm and respectful conversation with management. It is entirely appropriate to ask whether a neutral room could be designated at certain times of the day.
What you cannot do is file a formal complaint on your coworker’s behalf unless they give you permission or authorization. I recommend always talking to an employment lawyer; most practice human rights law as well and can help you with questions like these.
THE SECOND ANSWER
Alison Longmore, partner, Jewitt McLuckie & Associates LLP, Ottawa
Workplaces in Canada are covered by provincial, territorial or federal human rights legislation, all of which prohibit discrimination based on sincere religious beliefs. Ontario’s Human Rights Code protects beliefs based on “creed” which includes religious practices related to prayer time.
Human rights legislation does not specifically require employers to provide a comfortable place to pray but it does require employers to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs up to the point of undue hardship. A request to use a private space in order to pray, based on sincerely held religious beliefs, would fall under the protections of human rights legislation. What this protection means in practice may vary.
Accommodation must be reasonable and may not be the employee’s preferred option but should respect their dignity. It can take various forms, depending on the workplace and an employer can argue that an employee’s request creates undue hardship depending on the cost of the request, any health or safety considerations and the extent to which it might interfere with their business operations.
You may choose to make this request on your colleague’s behalf; however, employers are required to consider all accommodation requests on an individualized basis and it is likely that they will need to communicate with your colleague directly about their needs at some point. In addition, if your colleague wishes to pursue an individual human rights complaint, they will need to do so themselves. If the employer refuses to accommodate them, they can contact the relevant human rights tribunal or commission and/or consult a lawyer.
Have a question for our experts? Send an e-mail to NineToFive@globeandmail.com with ‘Nine to Five’ in the subject line. E-mails without the correct subject line may not be answered.