Mennonite in Supreme Court Case?

[Josh]

I have personally never been “annoyed” at working Friday night or on Saturday because my observant Jewish coworkers were celebrating Shabbat.

Ken’s view on employee relations is strange. I still don’t grasp why it is a burden on employees if 1 employee can’t work in a specific day. The burden is on the employer.

[temporal1]

As an aside,
i once had a job that required shared/volunteer coverage of in-office phones.
the signup sheet was passed around, there was some sort of revolving priority status, so everyone had an opp to get preferred hours.
most hated this chore. there were always uncovered spaces, the owner/boss would be annoyed.

eventually, i offered to skip my turn, i asked everyone to choose hours they wanted, i would fill in empty slots.
it worked out great. everyone was happy. no more grumpy boss.

until .. i started getting more sales. you can’t win.

[Ken]

I have personally never been “annoyed” at working Friday night or on Saturday because my observant Jewish coworkers were celebrating Shabbat.

Ken’s view on employee relations is strange. I still don’t grasp why it is a burden on employees if 1 employee can’t work in a specific day. The burden is on the employer.

No, my view is the normal one. No one likes picking up the slack for that one employee who doesn't carry their own weight no matter what the reason religious or otherwise. That is how most workplaces are. If a religious accommodation doesn't affect anyone else than no one cares unless they are an unreasonable bigot. But if it negatively affects other people's lives then they are going to eventually care. Especially if it is a permanent thing week-in and week-out and not just a one-time favor that people are usually fine doing.

In another job I had a co-worker who always left work early most days because she had a kid in a fancy private school way across town that she had too pick up and it meant that everyone else had to deal with all that last minute stuff that had to be finished that day and sometimes stay late to get it done. It was a salaried job so no one is getting paid extra to stay late. If it is a one-time favor or some infrequent thing then sure, people are generous. That is the give and take of a workplace. But if their lifestyle choices are permanently dependent on you picking up their slack it gets old very fast.

[Josh]

… so you consider observant employees celebrating Shabbat to “not be carrying their own weight”?

[ohio jones]

I'm actually curious to see where all this goes. I absolutely support the law that requires religious accommodations when they are reasonable. Such as allowing people to wear head coverings, hijabs, turbans, etc. on the job. Or allowing people to pray on their breaks. And I think employers should be flexible for everyone to the extent that is reasonable.

There are some laws in some places that exempt Amish and Sikhs from having to wear hard hats. Other places there are not. Which do you think is best, exemption for these people or not?

In Oregon there is an exemption for Mennonites from having to wear bicycle helmets.

And Pennsylvania allows Mennonite preachers to enter the PA Turnpike on Sundays without paying toll!

There used to be an exception to that because of the interstate commerce clause; when entering the turnpike at the Ohio gateway, there was no exemption for Mennonite preachers. I understand that has now been fixed and Mennonite preachers no longer have to pay when entering the turnpike on Sundays anywhere in the PA turnpike system, even from Ohio.

Not only that, but the Turnpike Commission no longer requires their Mennonite employees to man (or woman) the toll booths on Sundays.

[ken_sylvania]

There are some laws in some places that exempt Amish and Sikhs from having to wear hard hats. Other places there are not. Which do you think is best, exemption for these people or not?

In Oregon there is an exemption for Mennonites from having to wear bicycle helmets.

And Pennsylvania allows Mennonite preachers to enter the PA Turnpike on Sundays without paying toll!

There used to be an exception to that because of the interstate commerce clause; when entering the turnpike at the Ohio gateway, there was no exemption for Mennonite preachers. I understand that has now been fixed and Mennonite preachers no longer have to pay when entering the turnpike on Sundays anywhere in the PA turnpike system, even from Ohio.

Not only that, but the Turnpike Commission no longer requires their Mennonite employees to man (or woman) the toll booths on Sundays.

You know, I had never really thought about how that worked when entering at Westgate, although if I understand correctly it perhaps had to do with OH Turnpike collecting the toll there rather than PA Turnpike?

[ohio jones]

Driving eastbound, Ohio takes their ounce of flesh and then 4 miles later PA extracts another pound. There's no integration even though there's no exit between the toll plazas.

[Ken]

… so you consider observant employees celebrating Shabbat to “not be carrying their own weight”?

It completely depends on the circumstances. Circumstances matter.

If it doesn't affect anyone else's life then no. People are absolutely free to do whatever they want on their own time.
But if others are forced to take on extra work as a result, and it negatively affects their own lives then yes.

Religious freedom doesn't mean shifting the burden of practicing ones faith onto others.

[Grace]

There used to be an exception to that because of the interstate commerce clause; when entering the turnpike at the Ohio gateway, there was no exemption for Mennonite preachers. I understand that has now been fixed and Mennonite preachers no longer have to pay when entering the turnpike on Sundays anywhere in the PA turnpike system, even from Ohio.

Not only that, but the Turnpike Commission no longer requires their Mennonite employees to man (or woman) the toll booths on Sundays.

Of course not. Everything is done with E-Z Pass. And if you don't have an E-Z Pass the thingamajig camera reads your license.

[Ernie]

It is sounding to me like you might think that the religious person has more obligation to be flexible and accommodating to his coworkers schedules, than the employer has to the religious persons schedule.
It is strange to think that the coworkers have this burden of obligation instead of the managers and the employer.

Just curious RZher whether it matters what religion a person has, as to whether the employer and managers should accomodate him.

Hindu's holy day is Thursday, Muslims-Friday, Sabbatarians-Saturday, Sunday-Christians. Should an employer let each have off on his particular day? What if the employer is a Christian... should that make a difference in what days he allows employees to work?

RZehr???