Religious duties and the job

[marshac]

The other day I was at a grocery store ready to check out, and there were two clerks working the registers- one had no customers, and the other was severely backlogged. As I went towards the empty register, a girl who worked for the store inspected my cart for food items (it IS a grocery store) and informed me that I wouldn't be able to use this register because the checker couldn't handle food for religious reasons (I'm guessing Ramadan was the reason) and that I would have to use the OTHER register to pay for my items (which took about 15min to get through).

This got me thinking- what's a fair level of expectation for religious accommodation and what's unreasonable to expect? In this instance a single employee could be worked-around by having her perform a different duty during the day and another employee could run the registers. Taken to an extreme though, if ALL the employees were observant Muslims, the grocery store would be effectively shut down during the daylight hours- clearly an unacceptable outcome. So if a certain behavior is unacceptable en-mass, why is it acceptable on the individual level? As I said- I've never run into this situation before and it got me thinking about some of these issues. Thoughts?

[beefche]

I would complain to the manager right then. They can accommodate her in another part of the store (stocking shelves or cleaning the bathrooms or something) instead of having her in a position where she cannot meet customer's needs.

Honestly, that is HORRIBLE customer service. And I would be so angry for that to happen to me. I lodge a complaint with the store and the corporate office.

[pam]

I totally agree with Beefche. They are in business to service the customer not the other way around. There are other things this clerk could be doing so that she too could observe whatever religious thing was going on.

[annewandering]

So was the store keeping her out front for advertisement of their accommodations? She certainly was doing nothing to actually earn her pay. I would be very embarrassed to be her. Good for her for keeping her religious standards but not to the store for not putting her somewhere else.

lol reminded me of something a niece of mine did. She went to work at a little store that started working sundays. She told them she would not work sundays. The owner told her she had to since everyone else had to as well. She solved the problem and said ok I will come here and help you on sunday as a service to you but will not accept pay. The owner was LDS and so were most of his workers. It got him to thinking and he shut down again on sundays.

It is good to stick to your beliefs but also to consider others while you are doing it. :)

[Just_A_Guy]

I think generally, if a person's religious belief keeps them from performing a substantial part of their job function for an extended period of time (and I realize those are slippery terms), they shouldn't be in that profession in the first place. For example, I don't think someone should be barred from being a doctor--or even an OB/Gyn--just because he has religious scruples against elective abortions. But such a person probably shouldn't go interviewing at an abortion clinic.

With this Muslim - the fact that they still had her working a register indicates to me that the store really didn't have much for her to do, indicating that food-handling is a core part of her job function. I can see giving her unpaid leave during Ramadan, or moving her to night shifts (my understanding is that during Ramadan Muslims fast only during the daytime); but having her on the time clock and collecting her paycheck for literally standing around doing nothing while customers are lining up waiting to be served, seems pretty outrageous.

[happy_boy777]

I would have asked the clerk if I could handle the food for her by scanning it for her and bagging it for her. That way she would not have to handle the food and you could still get through the line without the extra wait.

[alucarD1975]

I would complain to the manager right then. They can accommodate her in another part of the store (stocking shelves or cleaning the bathrooms or something) instead of having her in a position where she cannot meet customer's needs.

Honestly, that is HORRIBLE customer service. And I would be so angry for that to happen to me. I lodge a complaint with the store and the corporate office.

Maybe She was a union worker most grocery stores are union aNd she couldn't perform another duty? Plenty of non food items in a grocery store also.....I would not have felt that this was out of line. You expect other to accomidate or accept your religion but seem unwilling to do it for others?

[pam]

Maybe She was a union worker most grocery stores are union aNd she couldn't perform another duty? Plenty of non food items in a grocery store also.....I would not have felt that this was out of line. You expect other to accomidate or accept your religion but seem unwilling to do it for others?

That doesn't matter to me. I expect, when I go into a store to spend my money which would help keep them in business, that I get good customer service so that I would want to come back. Not stand in line for 15-20 minutes because they have to accommodate one employee. It's the customers that bring them their bread and butter (no pun intended).

[alucarD1975]

That doesn't matter to me. I expect, when I go into a store to spend my money which would help keep them in business, that I get good customer service so that I would want to come back. Not stand in line for 15-20 minutes because they have to accommodate one employee. It's the customers that bring them their bread and butter (no pun intended).

Spoken like someone who only respects religious freedom when it affects their religion.

[pam]

Spoken like someone who only respects religious freedom when it affects their religion.

No. Spoken from someone who worked retail for years and knows much about customer service and what makes a business successful. Please don't EVEN attempt to try and tell me what I do and don't respect.

[NightSG]

Why didn't somebody tell me about this sooner? I need to go find a Sunday job and then insist I can only sit around using their air conditioning, reading scripture and posting to LDS.net.

[annewandering]

Why didn't somebody tell me about this sooner? I need to go find a Sunday job and then insist I can only sit around using their air conditioning, reading scripture and posting to LDS.net.

I could go for the free air conditioning while being paid right now! My friend on facebook said it was 111 in Witchita today. I bet he would too!

[NeuroTypical]

Spoken like someone who only respects religious freedom when it affects their religion.

Yep. Whenever I disagree with Pam, I always let her know it's because she's a hypocrite who only pretends to respect others. I swear - you give that woman an inch, and she'll make my favorite color against her religion.

[pam]

Yep. Whenever I disagree with Pam, I always let her know it's because she's a hypocrite who only pretends to respect others. I swear - you give that woman an inch, and she'll make my favorite color against her religion.

Uhhh what is your favorite color LM?

[estradling75]

Seems to me that the business made a poor choice.

Reasonable adjustments need to be made for religious beliefs but it seems to me that this was a poor implementation. Other people have suggested other possible ways... I don't know what might have been possible in this circumstance but it will be the business that pays for its choice.

All though I have to wonder if some anti-religious or anti-Muslims agenda was at work? Such actions seem to be designed to people complaining about supporting someone else's belief (if even only indirectly)

[Wingnut]

Okay, so they paid this person to stand around and not wait on hardly any customers, but they also paid someone else to inspect everyone's baskets before getting in her line? That makes even less sense.

[Just_A_Guy]

Maybe She was a union worker most grocery stores are union aNd she couldn't perform another duty? Plenty of non food items in a grocery store also.....I would not have felt that this was out of line. You expect other to accomidate or accept your religion but seem unwilling to do it for others?

At very minimum, the worker could have the decency to get out of the way and let her employers hire someone who was actually willing to do the work they were hired to do.

You have a right to live your religion. You do not have the right to compel others to subsidize your religiously-based action (or lack thereof).

[Backroads]

Since Ramadan is temporary, I don't think it should prevent her from getting hired in the first place, but certainly accomodations could be allowed. If she can't check out food, don't have her doing it! Heck, even giving her leave without pay could be a bargain, but ideally there has to be something else in the store to do.

[Leah]

Spoken like someone who only respects religious freedom when it affects their religion.

No, spoken like someone who has a brain and understands there are a number of options for accomodating this worker, and the store picked about the stupidest option anyone could come up with.

[RipplecutBuddha]

I worked at a grocery store as a cashier at 18. Legally I could not sell alcohol to people though they could bring it into my register. Whenever that happened, an assistant manager (shift supervisor) would perform the act of ringing up the alcohol, then let me finish ringing up the order. We had a separate liquor store with its own register, but hey, all items could be checked out through any register.

I have no clue why this option was not used in such a case as the OP. The clerk in question could have rung up the items allowed by Ramadan, then have someone else (not muslim) ring up the remaining items.

I agree this was abhorrent customer service and a waste of employer's money.

[Backroads]

The fact is, alucar, that this store really did nothing to accomodate this employee other than "don't ring up the food". I'm sure no one has a problem with the store respecting the employee's religious beliefs and customs--but the store has no obligation to bend over backwards for her. Plenty of options have been said. Lovely. The store didn't do them, which left the employee useless and at least one customer unhappy.

So let's stop worrying about "but it was religious reasons" and wonder why the store didn't handle it in a better manner.

[mnn727]

I put up with a lot of things but I will not put up with stupidity on the part of a business owner/manager.

I would have left my cart standing there with the food in in and walked out, never to return.

I also would have written a letter to the company explaining why, and ask them how in the world a manager would think putting that person on the register with their limitations was a good idea. Why wasn't the person that was looking in the cart for forbidden foods running the register? Its not like its a real skilled position anymore, scan the items and do what the register tells them to do. Heck the person that couldn't touch the food could stand behind them to tell them what to do if they got confused.

Edited July 31, 2012 by mnn727

[Finrock]

Hi beefche. I hope you are doing well. :)

I'm only quoting your post because it seems to be representative of a consensus here.

I would complain to the manager right then. They can accommodate her in another part of the store (stocking shelves or cleaning the bathrooms or something) instead of having her in a position where she cannot meet customer's needs.

Honestly, that is HORRIBLE customer service. And I would be so angry for that to happen to me. I lodge a complaint with the store and the corporate office.

Weird answers. I'd move along and get on with my life.

Regards,

Finrock

[pam]

Hi beefche. I hope you are doing well. :)

I'm only quoting your post because it seems to be representative of a consensus here.

Weird answers. I'd move along and get on with my life.

Regards,

Finrock

While I can respect your opinion, it's not very nice to tell people they have weird answers when they are responding to a question posed to them via a thread. Just saying'

[Finrock]

Hi pam. I hope you are enjoying your evening. :)

While I can respect your opinion, it's not very nice to tell people they have weird answers when they are responding to a question posed to them via a thread. Just saying'

Oh, I wasn't saying they had weird answers just because. What I mean is that I think the current consensus reaction to the OP's experience is weird. Being that I am not in the consensus then perhaps I'm the weird one. :) However, I will never think, given the scenario provided by the OP, that getting angry in that situation is normal. I'm happy that the store accomdates religious beliefs. I have always appreciated work places that have respected my religious beliefs and accomodated them (by not requiring me to work Sundays, for instance).

I am sincerely sorry to anyone that I offended.

Respectfully,

Finrock

Edited July 31, 2012 by Finrock
Added words to clarifying my meaning and intention and message