Disability and Religious Accommodations

Reasonable Accommodation

The Department of the Interior (DOI) and its Bureaus/Offices provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals (employees and applicants for employment) with disabilities, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship. DOI provides Departmental guidance on reasonable accommodations in Personnel Bulletin (PB) 21-03 Processing Requests for Reasonable Accommodation for Individuals with Disabilities. 

Do you have questions about the Reasonable Accommodation process? Please visit the DOI Reasonable Accommodation page. 

For more information, review the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines on Reasonable Accommodation. 

Religious Accommodation

A reasonable religious accommodation is any adjustment to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice their religious beliefs.  This applies not only to schedule changes or leave for religious observances, but also to such things as dress or grooming practices that an employee has for religious reasons. 

For example, an applicant may ask to reschedule an interview that is on a religious holiday or an employee may request an exception to a “no hats” rule to wear a religious head covering such as a yarmulke or hijab.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practice of an employee or prospective employee, unless to do so would cause an undue hardship to the employer.  When an employee or applicant needs a dress or grooming accommodation for religious reasons, they should notify the employer that they need such an accommodation for religious reasons.  If the employer reasonably needs more information, the employer and the employee should engage in an interactive process to discuss the request. 

To learn more about workplace religious accommodation, please visit these additional resources provided by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:

• What You Should Know About Workplace Religious Accommodation
•  Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace