DescentBB

A friend of mine is considering hiring a young woman for an engineering position for 2nd shift. She's qualified and he would hire her but his problem is this: she says her religion forbids her to work Friday and Saturday nights. He has done a lot of research into the different religions out there but can't find anything like this. He has the feeling that she is blowing smoke up his tail pipe but isn't sure.

Do any of you know of a religion with these restrictions?

Don't think it really matters because he cant comment one way or the other in business. If the opening calls for those nights and she can't work them to bad so sad.

In practice that is what it will boil down to, but he wants to know.

The only day I remember most Religions aren't allowed to work is Sunday. Never heard of Friday/Saturday Night.

I bet she's young and likes to party. I'd say the job involves working those nights sometimes, if you want it, take it, otherwise, NEXT!

Dedman wrote:In practice that is what it will boil down to, but he wants to know.

I guess this where I am told, Cuda you have the most profound ability to state the obvious.

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My understanding is that the Jewish Sabbath is from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.

Keep her resume on file for a day shift opening.

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De Rigueur wrote:My understanding is that the Jewish Sabbath is from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.

correct..

Spooky wrote:For most tradition has subtly moved it to Sunday over the years.

Wrong, it's not tradition. Easter is a Sunday so Christians go to church on Sunday.

There are branches of Christianity (i.e. Seventh-Day Adventists, others I can't remember) that also observe the Friday/Saturday Sabbath schedule.

hey Ded .. can you tell us what religion she belongs to? or believes in or whatever? That would go a long ways to help us help you.

thus far I think De Rigueur has the best answer, but I'm not sure of what obligations the of a potential employer are in this situation. A simple call to the lcal employment office would answer that.

She could very likely be Jewish... if she needs to be home sundown to sundown, she obviously can't work late Friday and might not be able to start until near the end of second shift Saturday.

Not to sound harsh, but if it's necessary to work (even sometimes) Fri./Sat., then she doesn't meet the job requirements.

who says she has to be a member of an organized religeon? if thats her priority, then as others have said, next.

Duper wrote:hey Ded .. can you tell us what religion she belongs to? or believes in or whatever? That would go a long ways to help us help you.

thus far I think De Rigueur has the best answer, but I'm not sure of what obligations the of a potential employer are in this situation. A simple call to the lcal employment office would answer that.

I have no idea what religion she is. That's the problem. The hiring manager thinks she may putting him on but isn't sure. He will most likely not hire her.

ask.

Spooky wrote:Exodus 12:16 (KJV Bible) And in the first day [there shall be] an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save [that] which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.

From an insensitive numerical standpoint this would be 12:00 O'clock midnight Friday to 12:00 O'clock midnight Saturday.

Wrong, others eluded to this- a traditional Jewish day starts at sundown, not midnight. Thus, the second half (after sundown) of Friday night and the first half of Saturday night (before sundown) would all be the Sabbath for a traditional Jew.

So Ded, I think she could either be Jewish or possibly 7th day adventist and not be able to work during those times. I bet if she where asked if she could work a half shift on Saturdays she would comply. (being the second half of the shift)

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Actually, to be completely unbiased about times, I think you would have to use the definition from when Sabbath was established, which was to sundown to sundown. It's not just \"traditional\", it's actually the definition of a day from back then.

Midnight to midnight would actually be biased toward the modern convention for time-boundaries.

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Ah, I see. Oh, well, it was a bit of a tangent anyway...

Back on topic, I'm curious: what happened? Did the time restrictions cost her the job?

Duper wrote:ask.

Disclaimer: this is not official legal advice.

No no no. And no again.

Asking candidates about religion, family, age, sexual orientation or anything that's not job related could be construed as bias. If you ask someone "How old are you?" and then they don't get the job, they can file a lawsuit saying they didn't get the job because of their age.

If the job requires you to be there saturday night and they say they can't make it, then they can't get the job. If you give the impression they didn't get the job because of their religion, you're in for a whole heap of trouble.

well, you are quite correct there Topher. But this is his friend and Dedman is not the potential employer, nor am I wanting him to ask on behalf of the employer.

the conflict is there and it is known by both parties.

My personal opinion is that if a person is going to stand by the statutes that exist in a given organization or religious belief, they should be willing to bear the any burden that impose. But it's cultural nature in the country to cry \"foul\" everytime we don't get out way or a rock falls outta the sky and lands on our heads. ...even if WE threw that rock in the air to begin with.

This may need to be a new topic not sure??

An article appeared in the local paper today with similar circumstances, sorta. It has to do with Muslim workers handling pork products, specifically at registers due to there religious beliefs concerning pork.
Personally I see this as an Employer putting people in places without proper forethought and new employees not giving proper thought to what the job entails.


http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1052945.html