What Constitutes a “Sincerely Held” Religious Exemption to a Vaccine Mandate?
Sweeping new vaccine mandates could force millions of vaccine holdouts to become inoculated against COVID-19, but individuals with earnest religious beliefs or disabilities that interfere with inoculation may still be exempt from getting jabbed.
It is new territory for many employers navigating the issue, given how risky a proposition it is to allow unvaccinated employees to mingle with, and possibly infect, colleagues in the workplace.
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No longer “few and far between”
Most labor attorneys agree there is a lot of legal gray area when it comes to claiming and approving religious-based requests for vaccine exemptions.
“I don't think anybody is 100% clear. The EEOC’s view of sincerely held religious belief is employers aren't supposed to challenge the sincerity of the belief,” said Jason Reisman, co-chair of Blank Rome’s labor and employment practice group.
Prior to the pandemic, employers asked few questions around individuals’ religious beliefs, if for instance an employee made a request to not work on a holy day.
“Before vaccine mandates, I think religious accommodations were few and far between and generally related to things that didn’t require employers to ask too many questions. It was more about can you work on the Sabbath of your particular religion,” Reisman said.
But in the era of COVID-19, and with the rise of the more contagious and virulent Delta variant, employers are asking more probing questions: “They are becoming more brazen about asking for supporting information, like a note from a religious leader,” Reisman said.
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“What Constitutes a ‘Sincerely Held’ Religious Exemption to a Vaccine Mandate?” by Megan Cerullo was published in CBS News on September 13, 2021.