Beyond the Law: Processes Underlying Religious Accommodation Decisions

Purpose: Currently, the academic understanding of religious accommodation at workplace is skewed toward a consideration of legal decision-making. The main purpose of this research is to move beyond these legal considerations and provide a fresh perspective on antecedents of religious accommodation decisions when managerial discretion is high. To this end, we present a model that incorporates psychological and relational processes. Approach: This research draws on a variety of theoretical perspectives from psychology, organizational behavior, and human resource management to theorize a descriptive model of managerial decision-making regarding religious accommodation requests. Findings: The authors develop a conceptual framework and research agenda for examining front-line decision-makers’ responses to employees’ religious accommodation requests. The focus is on characteristics of the decision-maker, the requester, and the request that can influence the perceived sincerity of a request and the perceived accommodation cost. Research Implications: Our proposed model moves beyond US-based legal perspectives of religious accommodation and facilitates the identification of novel theoretical perspectives for better understanding accommodation decisions. Practical Implications: 21st century managers are faced with a wide variety of religious accommodation requests. Identification of underlying mechanisms through which these decisions are made facilitates effective interventions to build and sustain an inclusive culture. Originality: This work is among the first efforts in the management literature to theorize about the process of religious accommodation decision-making. We address the paucity of academic research in this area by introducing perceptual drivers of religious accommodation decisions.

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Work Title Beyond the Law: Processes Underlying Religious Accommodation Decisions
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Pooya Tabesh
  2. Phillip M. Jolly
Keyword
  1. religious accommodation
  2. human resource management
  3. diversity
  4. decision making
  5. organizational behavior
License All rights reserved
Work Type Article
Acknowledgments
  1. Phillip Jolly
Publisher
  1. Emerald Group
Publication Date 2018
Language
  1. English
Related URLs
Deposited October 24, 2018

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  • Added Creator Pooya Tabesh
  • Added Creator Phillip M. Jolly
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