Christians & Vaccines: Religious Exemptions
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate the global stage, vaccine mandates have become the topic of conversation. Italy mandated all workers to either show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection, effective October 15. Several other countries have mandated vaccines for various categories of health care workers. Most recently, President Biden announced that the U.S. would mandate vaccines for all federal employees and for businesses with more than 100 workers.
Biden’s announcement appeared to put people into two camps: some are applauding it as a much needed step forward, while others saying they won’t comply, even if it costs them their job (#IWillNotComply trended on Twitter after Biden’s announcement). So, what should Christians do about this? What camp do we fall into?
This article has three parts: the legality of vaccine mandates, religious exemptions and what the Bible has to say about all this.
Disclaimer: this article is meant to be informational. Please do not try to convince me of why your viewpoint is correct if you disagree with a viewpoint written here.
Part Two: Religious Exemptions
In response to COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the U.S. for healthcare workers, federal employees and contractors, and potentially large employer with more than 100 employees, many Christians are seeking to get a religious exemption in order to avoid losing their jobs for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Here is some basic information you should know about how religious exemptions work. Disclaimer: although I am an attorney, this does not constitute legal advice as I am not your attorney nor is this my area of practice. This is a complicated area of law and this article is meant to be a high-level overview based on my own research. Consult a labor law attorney in your state if you need more information.
Tittle VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of religion. As a result, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship, for those employees who claim a religious belief for not complying with a voluntary employer rule or applicable laws.
Note, being anti-vaccines is not protected by Title VII. Under Title VII, you must show a “sincerely held” religious belief, observance or practice (not personal preferences, political or social philosophies) that prevents you from getting the COVID-19 vaccine. That is why an employer is legally allowed to request additional information to support your claim for a religious exemption, including asking if your concerns about the vaccines are due to other issues, like the vaccine’s safety / effectiveness, political beliefs, or the company’s authority to mandate the vaccine.
Historically, most employers assume that an employee’s request for a religious accommodation is based on a sincerely held belief and requests are generally granted and reasonable accommodations are made. However, in this COVID-19 and anti-vaccination climate right now, employers, especially in the healthcare industry, are seeing a higher than usual number of religious exemptions requests, which means many employers are taking more time to investigate these requests.
Here are some factors employers and courts look at to determine the sincerity of an employee’s belief:
Whether you have acted in a way that is inconsistent with the claimed belief;
Whether you are seeking a benefit or an exception that is likely to be sought for nonreligious reasons (e.g., political beliefs, medical freedom, etc.);
Whether the timing of the request is questionable (for example, you just asked for an exemption for another reason and then switched it up to be a religious exemption after the first request was denied); and
Whether the employer has other reasons to believe that you are seeking the benefit for secular reasons (a general catch-all category).
That is why employers may ask for written documentation of your beliefs and how that impacts your ability to get the COVID-19 vaccine if you ask for a religious exemption from a mandate. Although some people include written letters from their pastor, that often plays a small role since the ultimate test is the employee’s sincere beliefs, not necessarily the sincere beliefs of the employee’s overall church or religion. It is up to each employer on what kind of information and documentation they request, if any, in processing a religious exemption claim.
Basically, the question is: do you personally follow your religious beliefs in your regular, day to day life? Or do you claim them as your own only when it is convenient?
If an employer determines a religious exemption exists, the employer must make reasonable accommodations for you. In this case, that could mean requiring you to wear a mask, regular COVID-19 testing, making schedule adjustments to accommodate social distancing, allowing the employee to work from home, etc. But there are situations when an employer can have legal grounds to decline your request for a religious exemption.
If an employer determines you’re seeking the exemption for non-religious reasons, it can deny the exemption. For example, this happened in a 2017 case (Fallon v. Mercy Catholic Med. Ctr.), where the court denied an employee’s request for an exemption from the flu vaccine because the court found that the employee’s concerns were really about health effects of the vaccine (i.e., medical, not religious concerns).
In Arkansas, a hospital that saw a large number of religious exemption requests for the COVID-19 vaccine. In response, the hospital asked those employees to sign a form to attest to the fact that they don’t use any medications or vaccines that used cells in their development. The form included a list of such medications, which includes Tylenol, Pepto, Bismol, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Benadryl and Claritin.
Similarly, if you claim your religion doesn’t allow vaccines but your health records show you received a rubella vaccination a few years ago and you were a Christian then too, that can complicate things. Sure, your beliefs may have changed, but a factor like that doesn’t play in your favor. You can’t claim to believe one thing but live another way.
Finally, an employee's religious exemption request can be rejected if doing so would impose an “undue hardship” on the employer’s legitimate business interests. There is a lot of complicated case law on this, but overall, Title VII does not require an employer to go above and beyond to accommodate an employee requesting an exemption. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, here are some factors for employers to determine if a reasonable accommodation causes an “undue hardship”:
The accommodation is too costly (i.e., the employer is required to bear more than a de minimis cost)
It would decrease workplace efficiency
The accommodation infringes on the rights of other employees
The accommodation requires other employees to do more than their share of hazardous or burdensome work
The proposed accommodation conflict with another law or regulation
The accommodation compromises workplace safety (i.e., Title VII does not require that religious beliefs be prioritized above workplace safety).
If your work is mandating the COVID-19 vaccine and you want to claim a religious exemption, start with your HR department first. If you’re denied, you can consult with an attorney if you want to appeal the decision. To find an attorney licensed in your state who takes on these kinds of cases, contact your state or local bar association (Google your city or state name and “bar association”). These organizations often have listings of local attorneys and their specialties, but someone specializing in labor law is a good start. Please do not contact me for legal advice on this.
Read Part III to see what the Bible has to say about all of this!