Despite the Trump administration’s strong, public stance against federal employees working remotely, new federal guidelines encourage agencies to “adopt a generous approach to approving religious accommodations, prioritizing employee needs while maintaining operational efficiency.”
The guidance from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management cites the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy, which it says “clarified that the ‘undue hardship’ standard requires an employer to demonstrate substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business to deny a religious accommodation.”
The federal memorandum mentions allowances for telework for religious holidays, prayer or fasting, including on the eve of a holiday, as well as a way that allows employees to work extra time in exchange for time off to meet their religious needs.
Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, told JNS that the center worked closely with the Trump administration on the new guidelines.
“They were very interested in being helpful from the outset,” he told JNS. “The administration is obviously trying to be very friendly towards religious people, and that put them in the mode of wanting to cooperate.”
