LA ACOMODACIÓN RAZONABLE PARA LA RELIGIÓN EN EL LUGAR DE TRABAJO EN EE.UU., CANADÁ Y EUROPA. LECCIONES DE ESA EXPERIENCIA APLICABLES AL ÁMBITO LATINOAMERICANO

Abstract

The increasing religious diversity and the claims for equal treatment of religious minorities are producing some new frictions in the Latin American societies. The workplace is a framework for many of these conflicts. This is no to surprise, since religion and work are major areas in most people's lives. The two spheres merge in the workplace, where individuals spend a substantial amount of their lifetime.
This article examines the reasonable accommodation as a tool to prevent and solve some of these conflicts, specifically when an employee's religious practices collide with the companies' rulings and standards. The reasonable accommodation aims to provide an equal treatment to those who because of their religion are deprived of the benefits of a socially accessible good, such as work.
The author analyzes the development of the duty of reasonable accommodation in the workplace as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the European Court of Human Rights. Afterwards, he addresses two major objections the reasonable accommodation notion could face in Latin America: the possibility of clearly establishing its limits and the need to have a previous, explicit statutory mandate.
Ultimately, the author expresses himself in favor of the adoption of reasonable accommodation in Latin America as a tool for managing religious diversity in the workplace and securing actual (not merely formal) equality for individuals of all religious beliefs.