Can a small business require and threaten to fire an employee if they don’t attend a
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can a small business require and threaten to fire an employee if they don’t attend a
My sister and her daughter work for a small podiatry office. They are closed on weekends. The new female office manager is wanting everyone to bond over alcohol infused bonding sessions over the weekends. Both my sister and her daughter attend the church where our father is the pastor. They have been told if they miss the bonding sessions, that they do not get paid to attend because of church, they will be fired. Is this legal and, if not, how can we combat this violation of the religious freedom act?
Asked on September 15, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Kentucky
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
1) You can be fired for not attending "bonding sessions" or office parties or get togethers as a general matter, unless you have a written employment contract preventing termination for that reason; without a contract, you are an employee at will and may be terminated at any time, for any reason whatsoever.
2) But reasonable accommodations have to be made to an employee's religious observances, such as not firing them for an event scheduled during church. The employer could let them not go to the bonding events; or the employer could schedule the events for not church time (and it would not be reasonable or credible to claim that church blocks all weekend hours or time; i.e. the employees couldn't use church as an excuse to never go), in which case, the employees would have to attend or be fired; or if the events are all day or weekend long, the employer could let the employees leave for church, but attend the rest of the time, on pain of being fired.
But if the employer insists on scheduling events during church and not letting the employees go to church, that would almost certainly be religous based employment discrimination or harassment and the employees could file a complaint with the federal EEOC or their state equal/civil rights agency.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.