“Not even water?” It’s normal to face questions from your schoolmates or colleagues during Ramadan. CAIR-Philadelphia has developed a guide, graphics, information, and letter templates to share with your school or employer, including scheduling an absence for Eid.
Ramadan Information for Educators & Employers
Ramadan Essentials Guide
CAIR-Philadelphia also offers quick workshops for schools/workplaces at no cost that can onboard them to be better prepared in their DEI efforts. Contact Asiyah Jones (ajones@cair.com) to get this training scheduled.
We have answers to our most common questions below. If you continue to experience difficulties, or have additional questions, please contact our office for more support.
Does my employer have to provide religious accommodations during Ramadan?
In most instances, the answer is yes. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects against religious discrimination, particularly as it relates to employment. Employers are required to accommodate an employee’s “sincerely held religious beliefs,” which includes making a religious accommodation for the employee as long as the accommodation does not impose an “undue hardship.” The law defines an undue hardship as more than a “minimal burden” to the business’ operation. This applies to employers with 15 or more employees and the federal government as an employer.
This means, among many things, that: employers may not require the removal of religious head coverings and may not require the shaving of religious beards.
Do schools have to provide religious accommodations during Ramadan?
Public schools must permit students to express and practice their religion as long as it does not “materially and substantially” interfere with the operations of the school, which often requires schools to provide accommodations. Students always have the right to read Qur’an and say silent prayers during non-instructional time. If students are permitted to use school rooms and resources for secular activities during non-instructional time, then students must be permitted to use school rooms and resources for religious purposes during non-instructional time. Public schools are likely required to provide prayer space for students to use during non-instructional time, in addition to other accommodations that will allow students to express their religious beliefs.
Are private K-12 schools subject to same accommodation requirements as public schools?
Private K-12 schools do not have the same legal obligations to provide religious accommodations. With this said, students should still make a request to the school in hopes of receiving the desired religious accommodation. Additionally, no school official should ever forcibly remove a student’s religious head covering or devalue their religious beliefs. In recent cases, we observe an erroneous attempt at framing providing religious accommodations as promotion of a particular religion. This is not the case for either a charter or a denominational school setting. We caution private religious schools to be mindful of not harming inter religious respect through careless statements and steps.
We have resources available to allow you to make requests for Eid/Ramadan accommodations, along with information you may provide to your employer or school regarding Ramadan and fasting.
As always, please reach out to CAIR-Philadelphia for a legal consultation if you have a concern: pa.cair.com/report and 267-515-6710.
