Federal employees may start seeing and hearing more about religion in the workplace, following new guidance from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
All federal employees must be allowed to express their religion at work, the Office of Personnel Management told agencies in a memo<\/a> Monday \u2014 as long as it doesn\u2019t interfere with business operations.<\/p>\n Park rangers, for instance, can join a group in prayer when leading a national park tour. And doctors working at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital can pray over patients for their recovery, OPM explained. Security guards are also allowed to display religious items at the front desk of a federal office building.<\/p>\n And as long as it doesn\u2019t rise to the level of harassment, OPM said federal employees are also allowed to try to persuade their coworkers of the \u201ccorrectness of their own religious views.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n \u201cDuring a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs,\u201d OPM said. \u201cHowever, if the non-adherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.\u201d<\/p>\n OPM Director Scott Kupor said in the memo that agencies should \u201crobustly protect and enforce\u201d federal employees\u2019 religious expressions in the workplace \u201cto the greatest extent possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFederal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career,\u201d Kupor said. \u201cThis guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths. Under President Trump\u2019s leadership, we are restoring constitutional freedoms and making government a place where people of faith are respected, not sidelined.\u201d<\/p>\n OPM clarified that agencies cannot punish federal employees for expressing their religious beliefs at the office \u2014 for instance, by having religious items displayed on their desks, wearing clothing or jewelry with religious symbols, or discussing religion with coworkers. Federal employees can also display upcoming religious events on communal bulletin boards in the workplace.<\/p>\n Federal supervisors and non-supervisors should also be treated the same when it comes to the ability to freely express their religion, according to OPM\u2019s new guidance. If an employee is unwilling to engage in religious conversations with a supervisor, however, OPM said that the employee cannot be disciplined for it.<\/p>\n Jim Eisenmann, a federal employment attorney and partner at Alden Law Group, said affording more flexibility to federal supervisors in their religious expressions may still lead to some blurred lines in the workplace.<\/p>\n \u201cSupervisors are in a special position in the federal workforce. They hold power and control over\u00a0employees, employee assignments and employee performance appraisals,\u201d Eisenmann said. \u201cIn the past,\u00a0supervisors had to be very discerning and careful about having any\u00a0discussions about religion or having religious displays in their offices. They were discouraged from doing that because people could perceive it a certain way, and it could lead to\u00a0complaints of religious discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n Under the new guidance, agencies also have to let federal employees privately engage in religious expressions in the workplace. But agencies can still limit the amount of time and determine the places that federal employees are allowed to do so, OPM said.<\/p>\n Federal employees are allowed to engage in religious expressions in groups as well \u2014 as long as those expressions don\u2019t happen during \u201con-duty time,\u201d OPM said. For instance, OPM explained that if an employee asks a supervisor to shut down a coworkers\u2019 gathering for prayer in an empty conference room, the supervisor should \u201cpolitely\u201d say that the coworkers\u2019 gathering is allowed, and that it can continue.<\/p>\n The guidance for \u201con-duty time,\u201d however, may also lead to some confusion about when employees are or aren\u2019t technically working, and when they are allowed to express their religion, Eisenmann said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vast majority of federal employees are not punching a clock, so it\u2019s not going to be clear,\u201d Eisenmann said. \u201cIf I knock on my boss\u2019 office door and ask to chat, and they\u2019re just reading the Bible, do I know they\u2019re on a break? To me, the distinction can be lost.\u201d<\/p>\n OPM\u2019s guidance comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order<\/a> in February, calling for the eradication of \u201canti-Christian bias.\u201d Trump\u2019s order established a new task force responsible, in part, for reviewing agencies\u2019 activities to identify and eliminate any \u201canti-Christian policies, practices or conduct,\u201d the White House said in a Feb. 6 fact sheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n The VA, for one, launched a task force in April<\/a>\u00a0to investigate instances of \u201canti-Christian bias\u201d \u2014 in particular, seeking cases where employees believed they were denied promotions for religious reasons, or faced retaliation for seeking a religious exemption to vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n The new guidance aligns with the unanimous June 2023 Supreme Court decision<\/a> in Groff v. DeJoy, which determined that all employers, including federal agencies, must grant religious accommodations to employees, unless doing so would create an \u201cundue hardship\u201d to business operations. The court\u2019s decision made it harder for employers in and out of government to deny religious accommodations in the workplace.<\/p>\n OPM additionally referenced protections of religious freedom for individuals, including federal employees, afforded under Title VII and the Constitution.<\/p>\n The new guidance is OPM\u2019s second action this month, calling for more flexibility for federal employees \u201cof faith.\u201d On July 16, OPM also encouraged agencies<\/a> to grant telework exemptions to federal employees for religious purposes \u2014 carving out some limited exceptions to Trump\u2019s broad return-to-office orders<\/a> across the executive branch. The Trump administration said federal employees can request exemptions to telework, for instance, when observing religious holidays, attending services or fasting.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n \u201cThe federal workforce should be a welcoming place for federal employees who practice a religious faith,\u201d Kupor said. \u201cAllowing religious discrimination in the federal workplace violates the law. It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly-qualified employees of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n