Religion is a very sensitive issue, and religions have certain specific requirements. In order to accommodate people who have a specific requirement as per their religion, organizations must be empathetic and sensitive. The plan should be giving them space and scope to follow their religious practices if they are not hindering the working of the organization. There must also be training programs that shall teach the peculiarities of religions to the employees. Employees must not be stopped from following their daily religious rituals like covering head with a veil, offering prayers daily, observing fasting, and wearing jewelry. In fact, if employees are observing month long fasting than they should be assigned fewer burdens during that time (ACAS,2005).
People with Disabilities
Organizations accommodating people with disabilities in the workplace should always welcome these people with an open heart and r3emove the barriers that may come in between like architectural barriers( small passages, narrow ways etc.), communication barriers (small printing fonts, unclear signs, multiple formats of information etc.) , and technological barriers (absence of screen reading or captioning software) (Owen,2012). Other than theses barriers there should be clear hiring process which does not discriminate amongst employees and attitude of people towards disables should be friendlier.
It has been found that providing accommodations to the disabled is less costly than employee turnover. It was found in a study that the cost of employee employees with disabilities is minimal but still companies perceive that it will cost them higher. Also, it was found that there are many benefits associated with employing people with disabilities like loyalty, hardworking and reliable employees with low absenteeism and turnover and longer tenures of working (Owen, 2012).
References
Religion or belief and the workplace. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/f/l/religion_1.pdf
Owen J. (2012).The Benefits of Disability in the Workplace. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/judyowen/2012/05/12/a-cost-benefit-analysis-of-disability- in-the-workplace/
