Interim Policy — Religious Accommodation (from the Religions in Canada, February 2009 document)

PURPOSE

1. This policy-prescribes guidelines and procedures for accommodating the religious practices of Canadian Forces (CF) members and CF applicants.Related regulations and policies are as follows:

a. QR&Os 19-26 and 19-27, amplified by CFAO 19-32 Redress of Grievance;

b. QR&O 16, amplified by CFAO 16-1 Leave;

c. CFAO 19-40 Human Rights - Discrimination;

d. CFMO 13-09 Informed Consent; and

e. CF Dress Instructions (A-AD-265-000/AG-001).

GENERAL

2.2. Religious discrimination in employment is prohibited under both the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter).The Charter also guarantees every individual freedom of conscience and religion.Employment policies or practices which discriminate against a particular religious group or infringe on religious freedom are therefore illegal, unless they can be justified as a reasonable limit under section 1 of the Charter or established as a non-discriminatory practice (e.g. a bona fide occupational requirement) under Section 15 of the CHRA.

3.. In some circumstances, a general and apparently neutral policy or practice could unintentionally have an adverse effect on an individual by preventing that person from observing a practice that is central to his or her religious beliefs.In such cases, the CF is required to make reasonable accommodation for the religious practices of individuals where to do so would not cause undue hardship.Reasonable accommodation may involve some specific adjustment or individual variation from standard practices, such as modification to workplace conditions, to the manner in which the job is performed, or to policies or procedures.

DEFINITIONS

4.In this policy:

accommodation of religious practices — Means making some specific adjustment or accommodation to standard operating procedures, routine practices, or policies so that a CF member can participate in a practice which is central to his/her religious beliefs and the observance of which is considered a fundamental requirement of the religion and not merely a religious custom or tradition;

bona fide occupational requirement — Means a requirement that is necessary for safe, efficient and reliable performance of the essential components of a duty;

commanding officer — Includes also a Recruiting Zone Commanding Officer in the case of CF applicants

discrimination — Means a distinction, whether intentional or not, which is based on grounds relating to personal characteristics of the individual or group, and which has the effect of imposing burdens, obligations, or disadvantages on the individual or group which are not imposed upon others, or which withholds or limits access to opportunities, benefits and advantages available to other members of society;

freedom of religion — Means the right to entertain such religious beliefs as a person chooses, the right to declare religious beliefs openly, and the right to manifest religious beliefs through worship and practice; freedom of religion also means that, subject to necessary limitations, no one is to be forced to act in a way contrary to his or her religious beliefs or conscience; and

member — For the purpose of this policy, refers to both military personnel and CF applicants unless otherwise specified. .

POLICY

5.It is the policy of the CF that every reasonable effort shall be made to permit the observance of religious practices by individual members, when to do so will not impose undue hardship on the organizational element responsible for the accommodation.Approval or denial of requests for the accommodation of religious practices must be based on the circumstances of each case, taking into consideration such factors as operational readiness and effectiveness, cost, health, and safety, morale, interchangeability of personnel and facilities, resources available, and risk (magnitude and who bears it).Further amplification of these factors is contained in paragraphs 11 and 12 of this policy.

6.An accommodation which has been approved for religious reasons may be suspended or revoked by a commanding officer whenever changes to the mission alter the circumstances upon which the approval was based, such that continuing to accommodate the member would cause undue hardship.The degree of accommodation possible may also vary according to the member's employment over the course of a career. .

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES WHICH MAY BE CONSIDERED FOR ACCOMMODATION

7.Requests for the accommodation of religious practices are likely to fall into one of the following categories listed below.However, these categories are not meant to be an exhaustive list:

a. Religous worship.Some religious groups have worship practices that conflict with the member's availability for duty and operational requirements.The commanding officer shall determine when operational requirements dictate that a member must be available for duty and when some type of adjustment can be made to permit religious worship.The observance of holy days may be permitted by means of approving special leave, short leave, and/or annual leave, in accordance with the provisions of CFAO 16-1, Leave.

b. Religious dietary practices.Some religious groups have beliefs that prohibit the consumption of specific foods or prescribe special preparation.Where the member's faith prohibits specific foods, it may be possible to meet the member's dietary needs by ensuring that alternative choices are available.Where the member's faith prescribes stringent requirements for the preparation and service of food, consideration should be given to the procurement of commercially prepared meals, where this is a reasonable option. Alternatively, the member could be exempted from the requirement to pay rations, and permitted to meet his or her own dietary requirements.For deployed operations, where troops must subsist on combat rations (individual meal packs), reasonable efforts shall be made to provide a member with alternative meals.However, this type of combat ration has a very limited food selection, and no alternative feeding capability exists if the procurement source becomes exhausted. During the operational planning process, a special combat ration request supported by the commanding officer must be forwarded to NDHQ/Director Supply 4 - Food Services through Director Land Material, with sufficient lead time to enable procurement upon demand.

c. Religious dress and appearance. Requests for variations to uniform dress standards so as to accommodate an established religious requirement shall normally be approved unless an operational requirement prevents an accommodation.The religious requirement will be made known to the Director History and Heritage, who will advise appropriate standards for wear of the apparel or accoutrement in question.Requests for accommodations to operational dress requirements shall be referred through the chain of command for review and analysis to the appropriate OPI, as follows: NDHQ/Chief of Maritime Staff/ Director Naval Personnel Requirements 2-2 (SO Pers Adm) for the sea environment; NDHQ/Chief of Land Staff/Director Land Requirements 5-3 for the land environment; and NDHQ/Chief of Air Staff/Chief of Staff Personnel and Training for the air environment.

d. Religious medical requirements.Some religious requirements conflict with normal CF medical procedures. These conflicts may include the belief in self-care, and prohibitions against immunizations, blood transfusions, and surgery.The CF's concern is with the possible effect on the member's health and ability to carry out assigned tasks, and on the health of others. Wherever possible, accommodations to standard medical procedures based on a member's religious beliefs shall be made.In no circumstances shall a CF member be forced against his or her will to submit to medical procedures.Imposing medical procedures without the consent of the patient can have civil and criminal legal consequences for the authority imposing the procedure.Requests for accommodations to medical requirements shall be referred to Director Medical Services.

ACTION BY MEMBER OR APPLICANT MAKING THE REQUEST

8.A member or applicant requesting an accommodation to permit observance of a religious obligation must specify in writing the exact nature of the religious requirement.The member's request must include a statement that the member is currently, or could reasonably foresee himself/herself, being prevented from participating in a practice which is a fundamental requirement of his or her religion.In the same case of CF applicants, the request must include a statement that the person wishes clarification as to whether or not accommodation of specific religious requirements is possible.

ACTION BY THE COMMANDING OFFICER

9.The commanding officer shall consider requests for religious accommodation on an individual basis and shall inform both the member and appropriate authorities of the decision.A commanding officer shall first confirm that the practice specified in the request represents a fundamental religious requirement, not merely a religious custom or tradition.The commanding officer should consult the Chaplain, who shall communicate with a leader of the appropriate religious community or, if necessary, direct the query to the Chaplain General, and then document the findings.If the practice in question is confirmed as a fundamental religious requirement, the commanding officer must next determine if the requirement can be reasonably accommodated.

10.It is the commanding officer's responsibility to determine whether allowing the member to engage in the religious requirement (either totally or partially) would cause undue hardship.In cases where requests for religious accommodation involve a cost, resource or policy implication such that the commanding officer does not have the authority to approve the request, the commanding officer is to consult with higher authority and request approval as deemed appropriate.

11.The following factors, while not exhaustive, should be taken into consideration when assessing a request for religious accommodation:

a. Operation Readiness and Effectiveness.If approving the request could prevent the unit task, mission or operation from being carried out or impair effective performance by the individual member or group, the accommodation should not be made.The risk involved should be realistically assessed on an individual basis by the commanding officer, who should objectively evaluate all possible options for accommodating the member's religious requirement against the criteria of operational readiness and effectiveness. In assessing such requests, commanding officers must take into consideration the potential effect of this requirement under operation conditions.If the religious requirement can be reasonably accommodated under peacetime conditions, but not under operational conditions, and if the member indicates that he or she would be unwilling to forsake the requirement even under operational conditions, then the member is not fully employable in the military;

b. Cost.If the cost involved in accommodating the individual is excessive for the organizational element involved, then the request should be denied; and

c. Health and Safety.The necessity to adhere to an occupational/duty requirement which is based on a consideration of the health or safety risk to personnel is a legitimate reason for denying a request for an accommodation of a religious requirement when modifying or removing the occupation/duty requirement would increase the likelihood of injury to the public, the member's co-workers, or the member.

12.The scope of the demands which would be placed on co-workers in the unit as a result of implementing a particular measure may, under certain circumstances, influence a decision to accommodate.The actual demands on co-workers must be demonstrable.They must constitute more than negative attitudinal reactions (e.g., perceptions of unfairness, unwillingness to deviate from the standard procedures).

13.A commanding officer who wishes additional guidance in resolving a request for an accommodation or who believes that the request may have CF-wide policy implications may address such queries to NDHQ/Director Personnel Policy.Director Personnel Policy will endeavour to develop a database of accommodation requests and the respective decision taken, noting the key factors involved in each decision, as a reference guide for commanding officers.

DOCUMENTATION

14.. Requests for the accommodation of religious requirements are to be documented using the form at appendix 1 to this Annex (Annex A Word document see page 93 and forward and pages 101/2/3 for the actual forms*).The original of the form is to be placed on the member's personnel file, or the applicant's recruiting documentation file if the applicant does not become a member.The second copy is to be forwarded to the member's career manager.The third copy is to be forwarded to Director Personnel Policy in the interests of policy monitoring and for policy refinement as necessary.The fourth copy is to be given to the member or applicant for retention.Should there be a requirement for a commanding officer to suspend or revoke a previously accommodated request, then this decision and its rationale are to be documented by letter, with the same distribution as the form.Once a previously approved request for accommodation has been revoked, a member may again request accommodation of religious practices when a change of circumstances has occurred that directly relates to the reasons for the denial of a previous request.

* this document is also available as a Word document

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AVENUES OF REDRESS

15.If a member or applicant is dissatisfied with the disposition of a request for religious accommodation, he or she may file a grievance in accordance with the procedures contained in QR&O 19.26 and 19.27 and as amplified in CFAO 19-32.

16.Nothing in this order precludes any member or applicant who believes that he or she has been discriminated against on religious grounds from filing a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC).