SECTION 335:15-5-2. Reasonable religious accommodation without undue hardship

(a)   Duty to accommodate.

(1)   Title 25 O.S. Article 3 is interpreted by this Subchapter to make it unlawful for an employer to fail to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee or prospective employee, unless the employer demonstrates that accommodation would result in undue hardship on the conduct of its business.

(2)   Furthermore, Article 3 imposes an obligation on a labor organization to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee or prospective employee, unless the labor organization demonstrates that accommodation would result in undue hardship.

(3)   Reasonable accommodation requirements are primarily directed to obligations of employers or labor organizations, which are the entities covered by Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes that will most often be required to make an accommodation. However, the principles of this Section also apply when an accommodation can be required of other entities covered by Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes, such as employment agencies or joint labor-management committees controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining or retraining programs.

(b)   Reasonable accommodation.

(1)   After an employee or prospective employee notifies the employer or labor organization of his or her need for a religious accommodation, the employer or labor organization has an obligation to reasonably accommodate the individual's religious practices. A refusal to accommodate is justified only when an employer or labor organization can demonstrate that an undue hardship would in fact result from each available alternative method of accommodation. A mere assumption that many more people, with the same religious practices as the person being accommodated, may also need accommodation is not evidence of undue hardship.

(2)   When there is more than one method of accommodation available which would not cause undue hardship, the Commission will determine whether the accommodation offered is reasonable by examining:

(A)   The alternatives for accommodation considered by the employer or labor organization; and

(B)   The alternatives for accommodation, if any, actually offered to the individual requiring accommodation. Some alternatives for accommodating religious practices might disadvantage the individual with respect to his or her employment opportunities, such as compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. Therefore, when there is more than one means of accommodation which would not cause undue hardship, the employer or labor organization must offer the alternative which least disadvantages the individual with respect to his or her employment opportunities.