Religious Accommodations
California State University requires its employees to reasonably accommodate the religious needs, observances, and practices of their employees and students upon request. An individual’s request for reasonable religious accommodations, including requests for time off from work or school activities, is justified unless CSU East Bay’s operations would suffer unduly by granting the individual’s request.
Many religious holiday dates are determined by lunar calendars so that they change every year. Please use our online Interfaith Calendar page as a guide. This calendar will be updated every year.
Religious Accommodations for Students
Faculty and staff are asked to set deadlines and major assessment activities such as exams, keeping in mind religious holidays. Reasonable accommodations are determined on an individual basis and depend on the circumstances. They might include rescheduling an exam or giving the student a make-up exam, allowing an individual or group presentation to be made on a different date, letting a student attend a different discussion section for the same class that week, adjusting a due date, or assigning the student appropriate make-up work that is no more difficult than the original assignment.
A student should make their religious accommodation request to the instructor or faculty member in charge of the course. Students are asked to examine the course syllabus for potential conflicts at the start of the semester and promptly notify the instructor of any anticipated accommodation needs, providing as much notice as possible. Students are responsible for arranging in advance to make up missed work or material in a timely manner negotiated with their faculty.
392.4.4 The California State Education Code, as law, supersedes all campus policies. In particular, section 89320 states:
The Trustees of the California State University shall require each state university, in administering any test or examination, to permit any student who is eligible to undergo the test or examination to do so, without penalty, at a time when that activity would not violate the student's religious creed. This requirement shall not apply in the event that administering the test or examination at an alternate time would impose an undue hardship which could not reasonably have been avoided. In any court proceeding in which the existence of an undue hardship which could not reasonably have been avoided is an issue, the burden of proof shall be upon the institution.
Religious Accommodations for Employees
Employees should make accommodation requests directly to their supervisors with as much notice as possible. A supervisor may only deny leave when an employee’s absence from work would create an undue hardship on their unit’s operations.
Reasonable accommodations for employees might include granting individual leave for religious observances, providing a time and place to pray, scheduling changes, voluntary switching of shifts with supervisor approval, or changing to appropriate job assignments. Reasonable accommodations are necessarily determined on an individual basis and depend on the particular circumstances. Religious attire should be accepted unless it presents a potential for injury or risk to safety.
Factors considered in determining religious accommodations include business needs; academic requirements; and considerations of cost, safety, efficiency, and the rights of others. The University is not required by law or policy to accommodate religious beliefs when such accommodation would violate other laws or interfere with the safety and security of our campus (for example, a religious practice related to use of illegal drugs or carrying a weapon might not be reasonable to accommodate).**
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides guidance at www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/religion.cfm
Depending on the situation and with supervisory approval, an employee requesting religious accommodation may use accumulated leave (such as vacation/annual leave), compensatory time, or leave without pay. In some circumstances, the leave may be accommodated by an alternate work schedule approved in advance by the employee’s supervisor.
Individuals may not be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs or practices, or because they lack religious beliefs or practices. Anyone who believes he or she has been discriminated against by the denial of a requested religious accommodation should file a complaint with our Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (DHR) Office.
**Please note that a small kirpan, or symbolic ornamental sword worn as a sign of religious faith and duty in Sikh religions is not considered an illegal weapon.