At-will employees are usually at the mercy of their employer. This is often painfully apparent during the holidays when employees are forced to work on Christmas. But since Christmas is a religious holiday, employees can invoke federal and state anti-discrimination laws under certain circumstances in order to celebrate Christmas. Here are the two steps to avoid being fired for celebrating Christmas:
- Your religious belief must be bona fide.
- Your employer must know about your religious belief.
However, you can still get fired for not working on Christmas if your employer can show that they had an undue burden in accommodating your request for time off to celebrate Christmas. Notice and accommodation go hand-in-hand. An employee will have a difficult time trying to show religious discrimination if they tell their boss on Dec. 23 that they can’t work their scheduled shift on Christmas Eve.
Letting a boss know well ahead of time about the need for leave on Christmas or any other religious holiday is the best thing an employee can do in order to practice their religious beliefs while maintaining their employment.