Religious Observance Leave

(effective 9/1/07)

Under Massachusetts law, employers must make reasonable accommodations to meet the religious needs of employees. Thus, employees with sincerely held religious beliefs (without regard to whether those beliefs are attributable to any organized religion) may request reasonable accommodations, including time away from work, to participate in religious services or other required religious practices. You must submit your request for accommodations to your supervisor at least ten days before an accommodation would be needed. Accommodations for religious reasons will be approved unless the request causes an undue burden on the department within the University.

If the accommodation is time away from work, it may be taken in one of the following ways: 1) unpaid; 2) paid, providing you have accrued vacation or personal time; or 3) for nonexempt employees, if the time away from work is less than two hours, it must be made up within two weeks – at a mutually agreeable time arranged by you and your supervisor.