OPM issues new rules for religion in the office

Of course, the rules of private sector and government employment are not the same. But workforce norms tend to cross among all sectors, private and public, large and small use and not. One norm had been that one does not talk about religion in the workplace. The danger that social conversation could turn into uncomfortable proselytization was avoided by rules preventing the discussion. The prohibition applied with special force regarding supervisors. A supervisor engaging in group prayer might be exerting subtle coercion on subordinates who feel a compulsion to join. Most employers have policies enforcing such prohibitions to guard against the risk of a future religious discrimination suit.

But free exercise of religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I of the California Constitution. Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have cast doubt on the legality of those policies, however, for example invalidating enforcement of a school board rule prohibiting a football coach from kneeling and praying with his players on the 50 yard line after each game—the Court elevated the individual right to free expression of religion over the school’s interest in protecting against potential claims of religious coercion.

New guidelines expand religion in federal offices