Must Employers Accommodate Shabbat Observance? That’s Up to the Supreme Court

“How far must employers go to accommodate religious employees in the workplace?

This is the question the U.S. Supreme Court debated in its latest blockbuster church-state case. The answer is likely to have a significant impact on American Jews and other religious minorities who require accommodation of their religious practices, such as Sabbath observance.

Current Supreme Court precedent does not require employers to accommodate their employees’ religious practices if doing so imposes an “undue hardship,” which the courts have interpreted very broadly. But recently, a broad consensus has emerged supporting the expansion of workplace protections, making it one of the few church-state questions that has united Jewish institutions across the political and religious spectrums.

While oral arguments last week largely reflected this broad consensus, it remains unclear how far the court will go in requiring employers to accommodate religious employees.”

Read the full article in the Forward