1.What if one person’s right to practice religion conflicts with another person’s right to be free from the influence of religious practice? What are some practical rules that can be set regarding religious observations in the workplace? How can we accommodate religious practices that require certain time off, religious garb, or even facial hair?

2.Baby boomers typically possess more work experience and are older than the next generation. Does an employer have the right to refuse to hire candidates who are overqualified, such as baby boomers? Substantiate your response.

response to my friend

1.Based on our discussion and readings, I think the important thing for employers to do is try to accommodate an employee’s religious practices. I think where employers get into trouble is when they don’t at least attempt to work with an employee, or when someone is refused a job based on their religion.

In terms of certain time off, you can always adjust work schedules with other employees if you have the manpower. However, I found this interesting because I started to think about how this works with my job. CTA runs every day. Bus Operator’s and Rail Operator’s days off are chosen through “picks”. It is a big deal around here considering you might not always get the days you want off. Employees can always put in requests, however, picks happen every few months. So, if an employee needs every Saturday off for religious reasons, I don’t think that would go over too well at the garages. There is usually enough man power to switch schedules around, but other operators might be upset if someone gets every Saturday off, even if it’s for their religion. The way the culture is here, I would think it’s safe to assume that if employees see that someone can get days off by saying it’s for religious reasons, we might see a spike in accommodation requests.

This is definitely a tricky situation.

2. I feel like I hear about this happening a lot. As much as it might feel or be unfair, but it is still legal. I’ve heard of candidates not being chosen due to being overqualified for positions. I’ve actually experienced that myself. I had a coworker who was older and has a PhD and she was having a difficult time finding a job. She purposely removed her PhD from her resume and some work experience to “dumb it down”. She immediately noticed a difference in terms of call backs and offers.

I think employers might assume that people with a lot of experience or higher degrees will ask for a lot more money. That might be true, however, I think it’s unfair to eliminate a candidate because of that. During the recession, people with tons of experience or degrees were willing to take a more remedial job just to be employed. In terms of money, at that point it should be up to the person to either accept or reject the offer.

In one of my other classes, we discussed how employers actually prefer boomers because they are more loyal employees. Millenials are usually more concerned with raises and typically only stay with a company for a few years at most. I don’t have the actual study, but I did find this article that pretty much indicates the same findings.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-millennials-gen-x-and-boomers-shape-the-workplace-2013-9