Keeping the faith ... er, faiths Companies adjusting to growing religious diversity in workplace

At Intel, Christmas isn't the only holiday that gets attention. Employees can log on to the intranet site to learn about a different religious holiday every month. During the holiday season, workers create window displays,

which are just as likely to include a Nativity scene as an explanation of the five pillars of Islam.

This year, the company listed 10 religious observances - from Ramadan to the Indian festival of Diwali - on a decorative poster to be displayed in Intel lobbies across America. And all U.S. employees were offered an additional paid holiday that they could use to observe a religious holiday not covered in the official holiday vacation lineup.

With 86,000 employees in offices from Santa Clara to Shanghai, Intel has a history of embracing religious diversity in the workplace. As people of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds enter the workforce in greater numbers, more employers appear to be stepping up efforts to accommodate employees of all faiths, religion experts say.

"There has been more communication and an increase in knowledge," said Gurindor Singh Mann, a religion studies professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara and an expert on Sikhs. "The very fact that they have employed these people is a big step in the right direction."

Indeed, slightly more than one-third of the 552 respondents in a survey this year by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Tannenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding indicated they had more religions represented in the workplace than five years ago.

Overall, employers found that workers have had more cooperation and communication because there has been a greater acceptance of religious diversity. That increased awareness appears to be paying off for workers who need religious accommodations.

For example, 75 percent of companies allow employees to display religious materials in work areas, compared with 24 percent five years ago, the survey found.

More employers also allow exemptions from dress codes. Twenty-one percent permit an exemption today, while only 13 percent did in the society's 1997 survey.

There has been little change in the percentage of employers offering flexible scheduling for workers who need time off for religious observances, including Sabbath and prayer time. In 1997 and in the recent survey, about two-thirds of employers provided flexible scheduling.

Most employers offer official time off only for Christian holidays, and fewer than one-third have an official written policy on religious diversity.

Only 28 percent of respondents allowed employees to swap holidays, and just 8 percent offered a designated space for religious observances. That's a 7 percentage point dip from 1997.

Still, it's good news that employers are doing something, religion experts say.

Frederick Denny, religious studies professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, is confident that over time, employers will begin to see people of minority religions as neighbors, not aliens.

"I'm optimistic and hopeful that things are proceeding in a way that is increasingly open and equitable," he said. "We have to keep gently and firmly setting good examples. We can't ignore when people are not being treated in a respectful manner. But often, when you explain the reasons why an employee is wearing a head scarf, most often people will say, 髟'm sorry, I didn't understand.' "

Increased awareness, however, does not necessarily mean fewer incidents of religious bias.

Although most respondents said there had not been a religious discrimination claim filed against their organization in the past five years, complaints of religious bias in the workplace have increased more than 40 percent since 1992, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In California, 203 such charges were filed with the EEOC this year, compared with 155 four years ago.

Federal law requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious observances, practices and beliefs unless the employer can show that accommodation would cause undue hardship.

But what constitutes reasonable accommodation or undue hardship often depends on the situation and the type of work involved, said Jonathan Bernstein, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League's San Francisco office. Employers able to implement flex time or get someone else to cover a job have a legal obligation to allow the employee the time off.

An employer is likely to balk, however, if a worker with some unique expertise can't be replaced for a certain shift, he said.

"That's where things go to court most often," Bernstein said. "There's some subjectivity involved."

Even an employer that accommodates a worker doesn't have to consider the employee's suggestions for resolving the situation, even if what the employee prefers would not cause undue hardship. The company simply has to ensure that it is offering reasonable accommodation.

In California, employees have the right to explore other alternatives, according to Sue Stengel of the Anti-Defamation League's Western States Counsel.

In addition, Bernstein said many employers are put in a tough position because they wonder whether an employee is making a legitimate claim.

An employer may be familiar with Catholicism, Judaism and Islam, but may not be so willing to give time off to a person of the Baha'i faith or another lesser-known religion, he said.

He cautions employers not to make those determinations. When disputes arise, the Anti-Defamation League encourages workers to resolve the situation on their own. If that doesn't work, the league will step in, provide background on the law and an explanation of why following the law won't have a negative impact on business.

While some employers, primarily larger corporations, are doing a better job at religious accommodation, most companies are not addressing the issue, said Alan J. Reinach, an attorney and president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council.

One of the biggest problems is getting employers to hire people with different religious beliefs in the first place, he said.

"If they indicate they can't work on the Sabbath, they don't get hired," Reinach said. "They aren't even told why they weren't hired, so we find almost no cases."

The burden is not just on the employer, Reinach said. Employees also have a responsibility to ask for religious accommodation.

"A lot of religious people cave," he said. "They go along with the employment requirements and compromise their faith."

A coalition of religious groups is pushing for federal legislation that would make it easier for employees to get accommodations. The Workplace Religious Freedom Act, introduced in Congress about five years ago, would require employers to make more of an effort to accommodate the religious practices of an employee. Under current federal law, an employer can refuse to grant an employee accommodation if there's evidence the accommodation would impose even a minimal inconvenience or expense on the employer.

"Right now, the law is sufficiently weak, and that gives them (employers) room," he said.

Helal Omeira, executive director of the Northern California Council on American-Islamic Relations, said most disagreements can be resolved outside of a courtroom. Often, it boils down to a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge about an employee's religious practices.

"I've found that resolutions are often calm, collective and mutually beneficial," Omeira said. "People understand that a happy employee is a productive employee."

E-mail Julie N. Lynem at jlynem@sfchronicle.com.