Posted on 02/04/2005 7:08:40 PM PST by DouglasKC
| Do those who want to rest and worship God on His weekly Holy day have to work on that day? |
"I’d like to keep the Sabbath, but I can’t — I have to work on Saturdays."
Wrong. You may think so, but you are mistaken. No one who believes in keeping the Sabbath has to work on Saturdays, at least not in America. No one is pointing a gun at the heads of American Christians and Jews and forcing them to work on Saturdays. Americans who work on the Sabbath do so by their own choice, not because they have to.
There were many Sabbath-keeping Christians in Communist Russia who were ordered by their oppressive government to work on Saturdays. Many of these Christians chose to obey God rather than man, and they lost a lot more than some crummy job. They suffered imprisonment exile, and torture for refusing to break God’s holy Sabbath. When we stand with these faithful saints before the Lord on Judgment Day, will any of us have the gall to say, "Well, Lord, I wanted to keep the Sabbath, but I couldn’t — I had to work on Saturdays"?
How does a disciple of the Messiah go about getting every Sabbath off from his job? First of all, you do not go in and ask your employer if you can have Saturdays off. You are not there to make a request; you are there to inform. You inform your employer (politely and respectfully, of course) that you will not be available to work from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Your employer may respond in a number of ways:
None of these responses is acceptable. Pharaoh tried three times to persuade Moses and Aaron to compromise the Lord’s demands. (See Exodus 8:25-29, 10:8-11.) Moses and Aaron steadfastly refused to accept Pharaoh’s offer of a compromise solution, and we must likewise refuse to accept an employer’s offer of a compromise.
What if your employer refuses to accommodate you? One solution is to look for a different job. However, that may not be necessary. If this particular job is important to you, you may want to inform your employer of his legal obligation to accommodate employees’ religious practices. This should be done in a polite, respectful manner, not in an obnoxious or threatening way.
Many people do not realize that U.S. federal law requires employers to accommodate employees who need time off for religious reasons, "unless the employer demonstrates that accommodation would result in undue hardship on the conduct of its business." You, the employee, do not have to prove the validity of your case. It is the employer who must try to prove that letting you keep the Sabbath would cause undue hardship to his business. The burden of proof is on the employer, not on the employee.
U.S. Federal law considers the following solutions to be "reasonable accommodation" which would not cause undue hardship to an employer’s business:
The employer
"must offer the alternative which least disadvantages the individual [i.e., the employee] with respect to his or her employment opportunities. "
The employer can also be required to bear the extra costs of accommodating the employee, unless the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determines that it is "more than a de minimus cost."
Sometimes an employer is afraid to give an employee every Saturday off for fear that other employees will see this and likewise demand every Saturday (or Sunday) off for religious reasons. However, according to federal law, this is not proof of undue hardship:
"A mere assumption that many more people, with the same religious practices as the person being accommodated, may also need accommodation is not evidence of undue hardship."
The above legal information can be found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended [section 701(j), 703 and 717] and in Part XII Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Religion. These same laws apply to labor organizations as well as to employers. The laws pertain not only to scheduling (though this is the most frequent accommodation needed), but also to other religious practices such as a man’s right to wear a beard because of his religious convictions.
The employer’s legal obligation to accommodate "pertains to prospective employees as well as current employees." This means that employers conducting a job interview must be very careful when asking about the need for religious accommodation:
"The Commission will infer that the need for an accommodation discriminatorily influenced a decision to reject an applicant when: (i) prior to an offer of employment the employer makes an inquiry into an applicant’s availability without having a business necessity justification; and (ii) after the employer has determined the applicant’s need for an accommodation, the employer rejects a qualified applicant. The burden is then on the employer to demonstrate that factors other than the need for an accommodation were the reason for rejecting the qualified applicant, or that a reasonable accommodation without undue hardship was not possible."
I do not wish to bore readers with a lot of legal jargon, but Sabbath-keepers need to know that employees have legal rights to reasonable accommodations, and that some employees take their employers to court to enforce these rights. Even as I was writing this article, a story appeared in the 11/27/98 Jewish Press about a Seventh-Day Adventist whose employer tried to refuse to accommodate her:
"Lisette Balint, a resident of Carson City, Nevada, was offered a position in the city’s sheriff’s department, [and] the department refused to excuse her from working on the Sabbath" ("U.S. Court Defends Religious Rights," p. 62).
Sometimes the employer wins the case, of course, because sometimes it truly would cause undue hardship for the employer to accommodate the employee. When undue hardship is not an issue, though, the law is on our side.
Most employers are reasonable people and are intelligent enough to know that it would be wiser for them to accommodate your need than it would be to refuse you. Many employers will actually respect you for taking a firm, but polite, stand for what you believe. If they are smart, they will know that a person with strong convictions is likely to be a reliable, honest worker with some integrity. They will want to find a way to accommodate you. Some employers are not so kind and understanding, and will simply tell you, "No, you have to work on Saturdays." If that is the case, then you must pray and ask the Lord to show you what He would have you to do. Would the Lord have you take your employer to court, or would the Lord have you look for a different job? (You don’t need to pray about whether or not the Lord would have you keep working on the Sabbath; He’s already told you in the Ten Commandments not to do that!)
Fighting for your legal rights in court is one issue, but there is also the issue of maintaining a good testimony as a disciple of the Messiah. Some questions you might want to consider:
Keeping your job should really be your third priority in this arena. Keeping the Sabbath and keeping your testimony should be the first priorities. If you can do this and also keep your job, that’s great. Personally, I would not feel comfortable forcing my employer to pay extra costs in order to accommodate me, even though the law can require the employer to bear these minimal costs. For the sake of my testimony as a disciple of the Lord, I would prefer to not exercise this legal right, and would pay for the extra costs myself, unless my employer voluntarily and cheerfully insisted on bearing the cost. I would also be reluctant to demand my legal right to "the alternative which least disadvantages the individual with respect to his or her employment opportunities." If an employer was willing to accommodate me, I would want to find the solution which least disadvantages both of us. If my employer is willing to bear some minor inconvenience in order to accommodate me, then I should be willing to bear some minor inconvenience to keep the Sabbath.
Every situation is unique and has many factors to consider. This is why it is important to pray before deciding whether or not to take your employer to court if he refuses to let you have the Sabbath off. If you do lose your job for the sake of obeying the Lord, the Lord will honor your sacrifice. He may not provide another job immediately, but He has promised to meet your physical needs if you "seek first the kingdom of God" Mathew 6:33
In closing, always remember that you are not called to be a slave to your job. Although you are to treat your employer with honor and respect, your employer is not your Owner and Master. If you are a disciple of the Son of God, then He is your real Owner and Master. You are called to be a servant in His Kingdom. You are not called to be a slave to the world system. So don’t let your employer or anyone else tell you that you have to work on the Sabbath.
Is it OK to heal a leper on the Sabbath?
I'm all for Sabbath keepers observing their Sabbath. But I'm also against suing your boss because of YOUR religion. If you don't like the work hours, get a different job.
Sure it is. Our saviour Jesus Christ did it.
Suppose your boss told you that you can't have a bible in your car. Or read the bible in your cube at lunch. Or discuss religion with a co-worker.
I do agree though that the situation needs to be resolved in a charitable and Christian manner and that a lawsuit should be the last resort.
My car is privately owned. If it was a company car, I'd have to respect his wishes, I guess. But in my privately owned vehicle, I don't think he'd even know what's in it.
Or read the bible in your cube at lunch.
If he didn't want a bible on the work premises, I'd go outside and read it. Probably fetch it from my privately owned car.
Or discuss religion with a co-worker.
There can be many good reasons for this. Arguments over religion can lead to a disharmony in the workplace. Same with politics. Or sex. Or any number of topics that can be contentious. I'm in Ireland - and there's an unwritten rule in PUBS - yes Public Houses!!!! - that politics and religion should never be discussed (because it leads to rows).
Fighting for your legal rights in court is one issue, but there is also the issue of maintaining a good testimony as a disciple of the Messiah. Some questions you might want to consider:
Do I really want to work for an employer who lets me have the Sabbath off only because he was forced to do so by the court?
Will going to court result in resentment and/or jealousy in my workplace, and do I want to work in such an atmosphere? Is this job really worth fighting for?
Is it possible that letting me have every Sabbath off really would cause undue hardship for my employer’s business?
Even if the court rules in my favor, would there still be some hardship (though not "undue"), and would it be right to let my employer bear this inconvenience?
Oh, I think that the author is very measured in his response to what one should do.
But he/she does suggest taking legal recourse as an option. And that is something that I do not think should be considered.
I've had this discussion with my boss. With the growing Muslim population in Ireland, I've asked my boss how he feels about employing people with 'relgious' requirements attached to their employment. He said he wouldn't be keen. His words: 'If I hire someone who needs to pull out a prayer mat in the middle of the newsroom a couple of times a day, how can I tell the Catholics working here that they can't flock to the Church for Benediction, the Angelus and morning Mass?'.
I guess it comes down to where our priorities lie. If our first priority is to our faith then we should be ready to deal with whatever persecution and difficulties come our way. In America this is mitigated somewhat by the founders recognition that God is our creator. I'm sure that 200 years ago (or even 75 years ago) that nobody would have a problem with public prayers in our places of employment. The bosses would probably have been the ones leading the prayer.
In fairness...over here our company acknowledges Christmas, Good Friday, Easter etc. But Ireland is a Catholic country, predominantly.
Won't be long, I guess until someone is preaching 'Happy holidays' at us. But we're holding firm on the Christianity bit, to date.
I think companies probably celebrate whatever holy days are the cultural norm. I celebrate the holy days listed in the book of Leviticus (the "Jewish" days). I'm self-employed now, but when I worked it would have been great if my company had observed the same days. But in no way did I ever expect them to. I used my vacation days to get those days off. It would probably be the same with Muslims in a catholic country like Ireland.
Having all that said...if my company didn't observe those days. I'd work them. Same as I work Sundays if I'm required (not all the time, but sometimes)...or Christmas (I work for the news media...so the news doesn't stop on Christmas Day, if you know what I mean.)
But, I firmly believe a person who cannot observe their faith 'outside of office hours' should find a job that suits them better.
I agree that it's probably the best choice. God's way and the ways of the world are often in conflict. But sometimes religious discrimination can be intentional and blatant. In that case we should uphold our faith.
The Reformers did not break with the Catholic Church over the issue of the sabbath. Nonetheless, given the penchant of Protestants for interpreting the Bible their own way and making difference in biblical interpretation a reason to found a new church, it was inevitable that some Protestant would seize upon the seventh day sabbath passage as a pretext to start another denomination and anathematize all others. The JW's do the same thing when it comes to blood transfusions. The Calvinists do the same thing when it comes to free will.
You're stealing my lines.
This is a judaising imposition. Christians worship on the eighth day.
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That's between you and God, but Christ had some thoughts on this:
Mat 6:30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
Mat 6:31 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
Mat 6:32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Mat 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
I honestly believe that if we live God's way he will take care of us...
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