1. Research Request January 2016
Religious ERGs
Research Request January 2016
How are companies addressing Faith Based ERGs and Religious Accommodations

2. Table of Contents Why is there a Need? What the Research Says
Two Religious ERG Models
DBP Member Research Request Meditation/Prayer Rooms 2010 Summary
Further Reading

3. Why is there a need?
Non-Christian religious workers are substantially more likely than members of any other religious group, including atheists, to say they have felt excluded or felt they were treated differently at work because of their religious beliefs or views on religion. 1

4. What The Research Says: Tannenbaum2
Half of non-Christians say that their employers are ignoring their religious needs.
More than half of American workers believe that there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims.
Employees at companies that provide flexible hours for religious observance are more than twice as likely to say that they look forward to coming to work.
Regardless of a company’s size, workers whose companies offer education programs about religious diversity and flexibility for religious practice report higher job satisfaction than workers in companies that do not.
However, fewer workers report that their company has flexibility in work hours to permit religious observance or prayer (44%), materials explaining the company’s policy on religious discrimination (42%), a policy to allow employees to “swap holidays” (21%), or programs to teach employees about religious diversity (14%).

5. Religious policies centered on time-off/flexibility and compliance3

6. Having inclusive policies positively impacts retention4

7. Models for Religious ERG
Religious ERG’s are still growing in terms of numbers of companies that have created faith based ERGs. There are two primary models for faith based networks. Despite the structure, all models are open to anyone and are aligned to business objectives and guidelines.
Interfaith Group
Specific Religious Group

8. Model 1: Interfaith Group
Ford5
All denominations welcome
Created a board or 8-9 members from different faiths
If employee didn’t affiliate with any of the board’s faiths then would be own affiliate
Aligned to business with focus on combination on business revenue, spiritual opportunity and education on different religions within Ford
Friends and Family outreach for members of Interfaith Group resulted in $260 million of new revenue

9. Model 2: Specific Religious Groups
American Express6
Need to meet a minimum amount of members
Open to all employees
Objectives must align with corporate objectives
Have 3 very strong religious groups: SALT, the Christian network; CHAI, the Jewish network; and PEACE, the Muslim network

10. DBP Research Request Meditation/Prayer Rooms 20107
23 organizations participated in the poll.
Company size ranged from 4,000 to 284,000 employees.
Industries represented included Accounting, Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Finance, Retail, IT, Utility, Healthcare, Insurance, and Media.

11. DBP Research Data8
47.8% provide meditation room for employee use on company premises.
25% of organizations that provide a meditation room have a written policy statement that explains the room’s purpose.
22% of the organizations that have guidelines are specific to the U.S.
20% of companies with mediation rooms say employees utilize it multiple times a day and 25% say daily.
11.8% provide accommodations like prayer mats and religious books.

12. DBP Research Request Meditation/Prayer Rooms 2010 Summary 9
Most organizations are without codified guidelines that outline the meditation/prayer room’s purpose and use.
For organizations that do have guidelines, most are domestically structured—only one company has globally encompassing guidelines.
Most organizations do not provide any accommodations in the rooms. A few organizations provide adjacent washrooms or facilities.
Organizations with meditation rooms have employees who use them frequently. Many have more than seven associates that utilize the rooms, and most of these employees do so at least daily.
The findings indicate that the cost associated with meditation/prayer rooms is minimal, making this a viable accommodation for companies looking to cater to their employees’ religious and personal needs.

13. Further Reading
What American Workers Really Think About Religion: Tanenbaum’s 2013 Survey of American Workers and Religion
“Muslim Employees: Valuable but Vulnerable” Society for Human Resource Management, HR Magazine, March 2011, Vol 55 No. 3

14. Endnotes
"What American Workers Really Think About Religion: Tanenbaum’s 2013 Survey of American Workers and Religion." Tanenbaum.org. Tanenbaum Center for Interreligous Understanding, Web. 4 Jan
What American Workers Really Think About Religion: Tanenbaum’s 2013 Survey of American Workers and Religion." Tanenbaum.org. Tanenbaum Center for Interreligous Understanding, Web. 4 Jan
"Employee Resource Groups." Ford Corporate. Web. 4 Jan
Myers, Teena. "FAITH-BASED EMPLOYEE RESOURCE GROUPS." FAITH-BASED EMPLOYEE RESOURCE GROUPS. NOLA, 28 Mar Web. 4 Jan
"DBP Research Request Meditation/Prayer Rooms 2010." Diversity Best Practices (2010). Web