Wiki Page, Multicultural Diversity in the Workplace for the Tourism Professional: 2.1 Religious Diversity Management-2

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Religious Diversity Management

Dear Students,

Hope you learn and enjoy our first module.

Welcome and lets proceed to our second module.

Read and listen to the powerpoint presentation with audio narration:

Spirituality and Diversity in the Workforce

Module 2 Part 1

Module 2 Part 2

Module 2 Part 3

Religious Diversity

The coexistence of two or more religious communities in a specific geopolitical setting.

The presence of religious difference and infers nothing about equal representation in the context.

Hinduism and its beliefs

Most Hindus worship one Being of ultimate oneness (Brahman) through infinite representations of gods and goddesses.

These various deities become incarnate within idols, temples, gurus, rivers, animals, etc.

Believe their position in this present life was determined by their actions in a previous life.

Pain, disease, poverty or a disaster like a flood is deserved by that person because of their own evil actions, usually from a previous lifetime.

Goal is to become free from the law of karma and continuous reincarnations.

Only the soul matters which will one day be free of the cycle of rebirths and be at rest.

Three possible ways to end this cycle of karma: 1. Be lovingly devoted to any of the Hindu deities; 2. Grow in knowledge through meditation of Brahman (oneness)...to realize that circumstances in life are not real, that selfhood is an illusion and only Brahman is real; 3. Be dedicated to various religious ceremonies and rites.

Buddhism and its beliefs

Do not worship any gods or God.

The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) is viewed as having attained what they are also striving to attain, which is spiritual enlightenment and freedom from the continuous cycle of life and death.

Believe a person has countless rebirths, which inevitably include suffering, it is a person's cravings, aversion and delusion that cause these rebirths.

the goal is to purify one's heart and to let go of all yearnings toward sensual desires and the attachment to oneself.

Follow a list of religious principles and adhere to personal restraint, fasting and very dedicated meditation.

Through practiced meditation a person may reach Nirvana -- "the blowing out" of the flame of desire.

Provides something that is true of most major religions: disciplines, values and directives that a person may want to live by.

Islam and its beliefs

Believe there is the one almighty God, named Allah, who is infinitely superior to and transcendent from humankind.

Allah is viewed as the creator of the universe and the source of all good and all evil.

A follower's relationship with Allah is as a servant to Allah.

At death -- based on one's faithfulness to these duties -- a Muslim hopes to enter Paradise. If not, they will be eternally punished in hell.

To be a Muslim, one must follow five religious duties:

1.Repeat a creed about Allah and Muhammad

2.Recite certain prayers in Arabic five times a day

3.Give to the needy

4.One month each year, fast from food, drink, sex and smoking from sunrise to sunset

5.Pilgrimage once in one's lifetime to worship at a shrine in Mecca.

Judaism and its beliefs

The world's oldest Abrahamic religion.

One of the oldest monotheistic religions.

These religions accept the belief in one God and the moral teachings of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), which includes the Torah.

The laws and teachings of Judaism come from the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and oral traditions.

The three main beliefs at the center of Judaism are Monotheism, Identity, and covenant (love of God).

Believe that there is one God, who wants people to do what is just and compassionate.

Teaches that a person serves God by learning the holy books and doing what they teach.

Teaches that all people are made in the image of God and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Barriers to Religious Diversity

Discrimination in recruitment

Major barrier to achieving fair employment for minorities.

Low representation of religious minorities in the workplace perpetuates a lack of understanding of different cultures and religions within the workplace and the broader society.

Discrimination at interview

Conscious exclusion by rejecting them or showing hostility in the interview

Exclusion can also occur more subtly, when jobs are only posted within closed networks, and when recruitment policies do not advertise to a diverse range of applicants.

Stereotypes or prejudices may be used against the minority based on the interviewer’s perception of the religious group as a whole.

Discrimination at interview

Inappropriate interview procedure like asking different questions relating to their religion or religious symbol and other insensitive or invasive questions (about dietary restrictions, supposed origin of the candidate, marital traditions, or if they hold conservative views on society) that may cause tension and discomfort

Removing the symbol due to anticipated discrimination can lead to confusion, affecting the relationship with the employer and potentially presenting problems at later stages of employment.

Discrimination at interview

Religious minorities are also likely to experience differential treatment relating to matters other than wearing religious symbols.

In many cases the very expression of these needs has disadvantaged candidates, particularly in the case of employers operating inflexible working patterns.

Biased recruitment procedures

Employment agencies may only propose certain types of jobs to certain religious communities.

Culturally biased selection procedures, such as tests and group exercises, may disadvantage some religious groups.

Broader structural inequalities along religious, racial and ethnic lines may be perpetuated when recruitment processes have a qualification focus.

Proving discrimination

Discrimination in employment is extremely hard to prove in individual cases

Intersecting and overlapping nature of different grounds of discrimination makes it difficult to assess whether discrimination occurs due to the supposed religion of the candidate.

Recruiting people from specific minority religious communities as long as they correspond to specific stereotypes (e.g. ‘liberated Muslim woman’, ‘invisible Jewish man’).

Religion, work and career progression

Wearing religious symbols and discriminatory dismissal

Cultural gaps and the glass ceiling for religious minorities

Gaps in culture, knowledge and understanding between the ‘dominant’ religious or secular culture in an organization and religious minorities is often a major barrier hindering religious minorities’ career progression.

Can create an environment in which minorities are less understood, trusted, and therefore less likely to be promoted than their peers.

Visible Differences

When wearing religious symbols, dress, or forms of grooming

Many minorities face barriers to progression or limitations on the type of work they are allowed to perform.

Hijab

A form of headscarf commonly seen in Muslim countries and is born out of qur'anic tradition.

It is worn primarily by Muslim women for fashion and religious purposes, and its style varies by culture.

Dastar or Turban

An item of headwear associated with Sikhism and is an important part of the Sikh culture.

Wearing is mandatory for all Sikh men and women.

Practices and beliefs

Requiring specific holidays which conflict with important work periods, different body language, or strong feelings about working with other genders.

Minority Restrictions

May not result in dismissal, but can cause employees to feel restricted and unaccepted in the workplace.

Do not consider the perspective of the minority and the importance attached to religious symbols.

Tallit Katan

A fringed garment traditionally worn either under or over one's clothing by Jewish males.

It is a poncho-like garment with a hole for the head and special twined and knotted fringes known as tzitzit attached to its four corners.

Minority Restrictions

The absence of dedicated spaces for prayer, meditation and associated rituals is a particular barrier for some religious minorities

They do not have access to vacation time for their own religious occasions, and have to use their own personal annual leave.

Religious dietary restrictions

Halal - the dietary standard as prescribed in the Qur'an, Islamic form of slaughtering animals or poultry, dhabiha, involves killing through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe

Kosher - conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of kashrut (dietary law)

Vegetarian or vegan (for religious reasons) diets.

Harassment

Can take the form of derogatory remarks, insults, ‘micro-aggressions’, and even physical violence.

Commonly reported to come from colleagues, but also management, customers and service users.

Religious Diversity Management

Valuing difference

Creating a culture of freedom, respect and dignity for all employees

Reasonable accommodation and universal solutions

start with a robust analysis of why they need such a policy

the need to review policies of neutrality

Creating a culture of freedom, respect and dignity for all employees

Uphold the rights and freedoms of minorities to express their identity.

All must adapt to and accommodate their colleagues’ religious preferences and practices or absence

Everyone has to feel included.

When employees receive respect and freedom they will add more value to their organization.

Creating a culture of freedom, respect and dignity for all employees

Establish systems to deal with situations in which the culture of freedom, respect and dignity has broken down.

Develop internal, confidential mechanisms through which incidents can be reported, considered and mediated.

Develop tailored programs on cultural and religious awareness and unconscious bias.

Reasonable accommodation and universal solutions

Reasonable accommodation can be understood as: Good faith efforts made by an employer to take reasonable measures to guarantee protection from discrimination to certain categories of people.

Assess whether a compromise is necessary and find a compromise that suits both sides.

Consultation with religious minority employees and health and safety committees and external consultants

Universal Solutions

Adopting time management policies allowing for flexible break times to be used at the discretion of the employee. Breaks can provide for prayer and religious obligations, but also secular activity.

Adopting a holiday policy which is not specific to certain religions, enabling leave allocation to be transferred for other religious holidays.

Employers providing modified uniforms to allow for the incorporation of turbans and headscarves

The adoption of flexible working schedules to accommodate different prayer or holiday schedules;

Create general ‘meditation spaces’ which can be used for multiple spiritual purposes, including but not limited to prayer.