On Oct. 25, 2021 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance for resolving religious objections to COVID-19 workplace vaccination mandates. This guidance comes at a time when many employees are submitting requests for religious accommodations to workplace vaccine mandates.
The EEOC issued the new guidance (at Section L) while employers await an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that will direct large employers to require their employees to be vaccinated or regularly tested. When the ETS takes effect, employers will likely face a significant increase in religious accommodation requests.