Employees and employers should both understand their rights in the workplace. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, complaints of workplace discrimination based on religious beliefs have doubled over the last decade. For some in New Jersey, this may come as no surprise.

One woman who worked at Old Navy has accused the company in a lawsuit of discriminating against her because of her religion. Before transferring and losing her position, she worked at a store where she was put in the fitting room and allegedly denied access to training for other positions. She believes this is because of her choice to wear a headscarf-an important Muslim tradition. The 39-year-old says she was born and raised in the U.S. and believes that her faith should not affect her employment. She later moved out of state and was denied her transfer. She believes it was because of her religion.

With approximately $10 million in settlements and 3,800 cases last year, this sort of discrimination is not one that employers should take lightly. Often, lawsuits accusing employers of the practice have stemmed from disallowing employees from taking religious holidays off or wearing head garbs. It is the employer’s responsibility to understand what sort of religious beliefs its employees hold dear so that the employer can accommodate for them. Anything that conflicts with an individual’s religious beliefs can be considered discrimination accordingly.

Companies can deny a request for time off if it has to experience undue hardship for accommodating the individual. This may mean that the company has to undertake a substantial expense for training another person to make up for the requester’s absence. In regard to religious holidays, employers are not required to pay overtime to an individual that is celebrating.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch, “Workplace religious complaints on the rise,” Marcia Pledger, Nov. 25, 2011