The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued updates to the COVID-19 Technical Assistance to provide additional guidance on religious exemptions to vaccine mandates in the workplace. 

The updated guidance provides a new section “L” entitled Vaccinations – Title VII and Religious Objections to COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates, which follows a Question and Answer (“Q&A”) format to address common inquiries employers may have when mandating employee vaccinations.  Some of the pertinent Q&As provided offer detailed responses to the following:

• Do employees who have a religious objection to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination need to tell their employer?  If so, is there specific language that must be used under Title VII? Employees must tell their employer if they are requesting an exception to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement because of a conflict between that requirement and their sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances.  Employees do not need to use “magic words” to seek accommodations, but must convey that there is a conflict between their sincerely held religious beliefs and the employer’s vaccination requirement.
• Does an employer have to accept an employee’s assertion of a religious objection to a COVID-19 vaccination at face value?  May the employer ask for additional information? Generally, under Title VII, an employer should assume that a request for religious accommodation is based on sincerely held religious beliefs.  However, if an employer has an objective basis for questioning either the religious nature or the sincerity of a particular belief, the employer would be justified in making a limited factual inquiry and seeking additional supporting information. 
• How does an employer show that it would be an “undue hardship” to accommodate an employee’s request for religious accommodation?   An employer should thoroughly consider all possible reasonable accommodations, including telework and reassignment.  An accommodation poses an undue hardship if it will cause the employer to bear more than a “de minimis” (i.e., minimal) cost – in the form of direct monetary costs or operational burdens, including the risk of spread of COVID-19 to other employees or the public. The EEOC directs employers to rely on objective information as opposed to speculation when assessing whether an accommodation will impose an undue hardship.
• If an employer grants some employees a religious accommodation from a COVID-19 vaccination requirement because of sincerely held religious beliefs, does it have to grant the requests of all employees who seek an accommodation because of sincerely held religious beliefs?  No.  Employers must evaluate each accommodation request individually. In doing so, they may consider the type of workplace, the nature of the employee’s duties, the number of employees who are fully vaccinated, how many employees and nonemployees physically enter the workplace, and the number of employees who will in fact need a particular accommodation.
• Must an employer provide the religious accommodation preferred by an employee if there are other possible accommodations that also are effective in eliminating the religious conflict and do not cause an undue hardship under Title VII? No.  If there is more than one reasonable accommodation that would resolve the conflict between the vaccination requirement and the sincerely held religious belief without causing an undue hardship under Title VII, the employer may choose which accommodation to offer.  If more than one accommodation would be effective in eliminating the religious conflict, the employer should consider the employee’s preference but is not obligated to provide the reasonable accommodation preferred by the employee.  
• If an employer grants a religious accommodation to an employee, can the employer later reconsider it? The accommodation and undue hardship analysis must take into account changing circumstances; therefore, the accommodation may be changed or discontinued.

We urge employers to review the EEOC guidance in its entirety which can be found here. In addition, employers should be aware that state and local laws may impose additional requirements on employers or provide greater employee protections than under Title VII. For example, New York State and New York City law define “undue hardship” as an accommodation requiring significant expense or difficulty.  Employers should modify vaccine policies to ensure they are in line with the recent guidance.  Should you have any questions, please contact us.