Religious Accommodation

Purpose:

To assist in the implementation of the religious accommodation provisions as outlined in West Virginia University's Affirmative Action Plan and applicable state and federal laws.

Authority:

West Virginia University Affirmative Action Plan; The West Virginia Human Rights Act; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Definition of Religious Accommodation:

Alteration in the job and/or term of employment to allow for individual practice of moral and ethical beliefs. These beliefs, governing the individual's perception of right and wrong, must be sincerely held with the conviction of traditional religious views.

Philosophy:

West Virginia University recognizes that some employees may observe religious holidays that are not included in the list of University recognized holidays. The University will consider such needs by granting reasonable time off to employees, as long as it does not cause operational problems or hardships within the effected department.

Employee Responsibilities:

An employee wishing to observe a religious holiday must have his/her absence approved in advance by the immediate supervisor consistent with departmental guidelines for scheduling annual leave.

Approval of Requests:

An employee's supervisor(s) is responsible for reviewing the request for time away from work and determining if the employee's absence will cause undue operational problems or hardship.

Leave Charges:

Time off from work, granted for religious accommodation, shall be charged to an employees accrued annual leave, or accumulated CTO/STO and recorded on the appropriate leave report and/or time sheet. At the supervisors discretion an employee may make up time absent from work during the same work-week in which the absence occurred.

Additional Information:

Additional information regarding religious accommodation may be obtained by contacting the Employee Relations Unit in the Division of Human Resources at 293-5700 x5.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 1, 1999

WVU POLICY REFERENCE: http://www.wvu.edu/~adminfin/policies/hr_policies/WVU-HR-38.html