In most cases, yes. Under federal law, employers with 15 or more employees must reasonably accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious beliefs and practices, including taking time off for religious holidays, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the business. After the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Groff v. DeJoy, that hardship bar is now meaningfully high, so a casually denied holiday request can be the basis of a religious discrimination claim.
This article explains the federal baseline, what changed under Groff, what counts as a religious accommodation, and the practical steps you can take if your request is denied. This is general information, not legal advice about your specific situation.
The Federal Law: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
The governing federal law is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on religion. It is enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Title VII does two related things: it bars employers from treating workers worse because of their religion, and it affirmatively requires employers to reasonably accommodate religious beliefs and practices unless that accommodation would cause an undue hardship.
Title VII applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, as well as to state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions. Federal employees are covered through a parallel process. If your employer is smaller than 15 employees, federal law may not reach you, but many states have their own anti-discrimination laws that cover smaller employers. This is one of several areas where state law commonly adds stronger protection, so it is worth checking your state's rules.
"Religion" under Title VII is broad. It covers traditional, organized faiths, but it also covers beliefs that are religious in the worker's own scheme of things, including newer, uncommon, or non-theistic moral and ethical beliefs sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views. An employer generally is not allowed to question whether your religion is "real" or "correct." It may only consider whether the belief is sincerely held and religious in nature.
What Counts as a Religious Accommodation
Time off for religious holidays is the most common example, but religious accommodation covers much more. Typical accommodations include:
- Time off or schedule changes for the Sabbath, holy days, or religious observances
- Shift swaps or voluntary substitutions with willing coworkers
- Flexible scheduling, such as starting earlier or making up missed time
- Dress and grooming exceptions, such as head coverings, beards, or religious garments where a uniform or grooming policy would otherwise prohibit them
- Breaks for prayer during the workday
- Reassignment to a position or task that does not conflict with the belief
- Exceptions to certain duties that genuinely conflict with a religious practice
The accommodation does not have to be the exact one the employee wants. If the employer offers an accommodation that effectively eliminates the conflict, it has generally met its duty even if the worker would have preferred a different option. But the employer cannot simply offer something that does not actually resolve the conflict and call it a day.
The Groff Standard: Undue Hardship Now Means Substantial Cost
For decades, employers could deny religious accommodations by showing only a "de minimis" (trivial) cost or burden. That was a very low bar, and it allowed many holiday and scheduling requests to be denied easily.
In Groff v. DeJoy (2023), the Supreme Court rejected that interpretation. The Court held that an employer must show that granting the accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business. In plain terms, undue hardship now means a real, significant burden, not a minor inconvenience.
Several practical points come out of Groff:
- The hardship must be assessed in the context of the specific employer's size, operations, and resources. What is substantial for a small shop may be trivial for a large corporation.
- Coworker grumbling, dislike of the religion, or general unhappiness about a schedule change is not, by itself, undue hardship. The burden has to be on the conduct of the business, not on coworkers' feelings about religion.
- The employer is expected to consider other options, such as voluntary shift swaps or adjusting the schedule, rather than denying outright.
- Administrative costs, occasional overtime, or temporary coverage may not rise to the level of substantial cost.
Because of Groff, a denied holiday request that the employer brushed off as a minor scheduling annoyance is now much more likely to be a viable discrimination claim than it would have been before 2023.
The Interactive Process: How Requests Are Supposed to Work
Religious accommodation usually starts when an employee lets the employer know that a religious belief or practice conflicts with a work requirement. You do not need to use magic words or cite Title VII. A plain statement that you need time off for a religious holiday, or that a policy conflicts with your faith, is enough to put the employer on notice.
Once notified, the employer is expected to engage in a good-faith, back-and-forth discussion, often called the interactive process, to find a workable accommodation. The employer can ask for limited information to understand the conflict and confirm the belief is sincerely held and religious, but it should not turn this into an interrogation of your faith.
An employer may lawfully deny a request only if it can show genuine undue hardship under the Groff standard, or if it has offered a reasonable accommodation that resolves the conflict. Ignoring the request, retaliating against you for making it, or denying it with no real analysis can all create legal exposure for the employer.