Pressure to accommodate employees’ religious requests increases

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has always prohibited religious discrimination in the workplace and has required employers to consider employees’ requests for religious accommodations at work. Examples of accommodation requests include such things as modified work schedules, time off for religious observances, exceptions to grooming or apparel standards, and changes in job responsibilities. The 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy significantly changed employers’ obligations.

Minimal to substantial

Prior to Groff, an employer wasn’t required to accommodate an employee’s request for religious accommodation if the request caused a more than “de minimis” (minimal) burden on the business’s operations. Now, post-Groff, an employer is expected to grant an employee’s religious accommodation request unless it can demonstrate the accommodation would cause a “substantial hardship” on its operations.

This change means that employers have less ability to deny an employee’s request for job modifications related to their religious beliefs. On August 22, 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a press release communicating its intention to aggressively investigate and pursue claims that an employer had unlawfully refused to facilitate employees’ religious beliefs in the workplace.

EEOC’s enforcement actions