During the final week of my summer internship in 2023, the interns and new hires at the company I was working for took a customary trip to a local ski resort. As expected, the Wasatch Mountain Range was breathtaking.
After riding a gondola to the top of a mountain peak, a few of the interns took the ski lift back to join the main group. During the short ski lift ride, we exchanged photos in a group chat and agreed that the mountain air was nothing short of delicious. Then, the topic turned to the schools we had all attended or were attending throughout the country.
Since I was the only intern from BYU on the lift, they asked what it was like taking classes at a religious school, where a church’s values were integrated into school administration and curriculum.
I gave the interns my customary answers, expressing my enthusiasm for studying at a school that emphasizes high standards and serving other people through our learning:
“I feel a lot of trust from my professors, and honestly, I can trust BYU students as well,” I explained. “I’m sure other campuses are great, but because a lot of us have served missions, students at BYU are also more mature than they would be otherwise.”Soon, the group asked me and another intern who had a mission call about missions and other activities particular to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because they seemed open, I shared more than I usually do in a work setting. I even finished off with a subtle testimony, stating that despite the imperfections of the Church and its leaders, I trusted them and would continue to do so throughout my life.
Later, in retrospect, I worried that I had crossed a line. Perhaps I had broken an unspoken rule of job protocol by sharing religious information. I was technically “on the clock,” and religious topics can lead to anger and division. However, throughout the rest of that conversation, we discussed other casual topics that might be considered inappropriate in other business settings. If some casual topics were acceptable in this situation, was it wrong to talk about religion?
Too often, religion is a taboo topic that we may fear punishment for speaking about, even when others have elicited that information. To address this issue, I will outline why it is completely acceptable to talk about religious views at work—with important exceptions. The following reasons provide ample room for religious expression at work:
- Religion is (mostly) legally protected in the U.S.
- Religious diversity is beneficial to companies operationally.
- Religion is an essential part of employee inclusion.
Legal Protections
Legal protections of religious freedom and expression have been a hallmark of U.S. history. In many cases, the government has placed emphasis on religious freedom in the workplace. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination based on religious belief is constitutionally illegal.¹ According to Peggy Stack at The Salt Lake Tribune,² laws have increased protections for talking about religion in the workplace, even going so far as to limit offensive remarks about another person’s religious beliefs or activities.
In some instances, however, religious expression may be illegal if it harrasses others or interferes with workplace productivity. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), these instances are not protected by law and are valid grounds for termination of employment.³
Considering these legal requirements, many religions have encouraged their members to seek religious liberty within the bounds of the law. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has emphasized a similar limitation to religious expression in an article about religious freedom:
“You have a right to be free from religious discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.… You have a right to receive reasonable religious accommodations.… You have a right to express your faith, as long as you don’t harass others or lead people to mistake your private expressions of faith for your employer’s views.”⁴The following will discuss important limitations to the legality of religious discussion that should be observed by employers and employees alike.
Company Benefits
It is a wise business decision to encourage religious expression, within the bounds of legal protection. Though research on the financial benefits of religious inclusion is limited at best, implications are that there are benefits to its emphasis, ranging from operational performance to public perception.
When team members feel included and comfortable, they are more likely to thrive and remain in their employment. One obvious benefit of employee retention includes reducing the cost of hiring new employees. Efficiency increases when employees are transparent with each other and with management without fear of retaliation, leading to less miscommunication and potential conflict. Conversely, prohibiting religious conversations at work leads to discomfort and secrecy, which may lead to lower satisfaction and productivity.
A company’s public perception is also strongly altered by its inclusion practices. While other topics like race and gender often take the spotlight when evaluating employee inclusion, religion is becoming more important as the U.S. population becomes increasingly religiously diverse.⁵ While the vast majority of employees in the U.S. are classified as “Christian,” there are many sub-groups that differ on theological topics. Moreover, according to Pew Research Center, the population of people who are not Christian and the population of those who are religiously unaffiliated in the U.S. are growing, making it increasingly important to protect both religious and non-religious beliefs and expression.
Original Graphic. Source: Pew Research Center
U.S. companies are increasingly emphasizing religious inclusion at work. The Christian Century, an evangelical publication, summarized research in a recent article about how companies are becoming increasingly public about their religious diversity objectives.⁶ Between 2022 and 2023, interest in religious inclusion has increased significantly among companies such as Google, American Airlines, Target, and Texas Instruments.
Original Graphic. Source: The Christian Century’s post
Because fighting discrimination and incorporating religious inclusion are widely accepted in today’s popular culture, a company without these policies and considerations may experience serious backlash in the public square. Of course, public opinion is not always the best meter for company policy, but inclusion is an important part of company performance as it attracts talent, retains customers, and pleases shareholders.
Best Employee Outcomes
Appropriate religious inclusion is not just legal and practical; it is morally the right thing to do. According to the McKinsey Health Institute, which researches human health in areas historically underinvested in like religion, spiritual life is just as essential to an employee’s overall health and wellbeing as social or even physical aspects.⁷
While a particular company may not be obligated to provide worship-related resources or other over-the-top religious benefits, companies should seek to destigmatize religion in general conversation. Much like how an employee’s weekend activities are an acceptable piece of information to share at lunch or even during team-building moments during work hours, religious beliefs have appropriate times and places in the workplace.
In a recent report on mental health and well-being at work, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services emphasized “connection and community” as one of the five essential pillars for businesses. As a definition of this pillar of inclusion, they stated:
“Having supportive work relationships can improve performance and is associated with worker engagement and innovation…. Leaders can build trust through small, everyday interactions, for example, by modeling and inviting others to share small moments of their life with them.”⁸Religious inclusion is a large part of connection and community. When an employee shares a religious experience or belief, such as what they did on Sunday or how their religious views change the way they approach a particular course of action, they should be valued and respected. A company can train its employees in this type of inclusion, demonstrating its many benefits in the workplace.
Paul Lambert, the Religion Initiative Director at Wheatley Institute, demonstrated that employees are often afraid to reveal aspects of their religious beliefs at work. He then argued that stakeholders should seek to build an individualized version of religious inclusion for the best results. Dr. Lambert stated:
“In the end, every business is built by its people, and if companies want to fully engage their people in building the business, they must engage with their employees fully.”⁹
A Word of Caution: Be Respectful and Appropriate
While most of this article explains why religious expression should be acceptable at work, such expression should not be attempted without care. Instead, employees should consider the needs of people with whom they share religious information, the appropriateness of the situation, and whether it would violate company policy.
Many consider religion to be as provocative as politics or sports rivalries. Thus, religious topics should be shared with care and respect. With this in mind, the best time to share religious information is in more private settings. This can be approached as if you were to share your favorite movie with your coworker over lunch because the topic of the moment was the film industry.
While the law protects religious expression at work, it may be wise to suppress some information to follow company policies or general best practices. It is imperative to weigh the consequences of religious expression, like potential termination of employment, even if the law or an ethical code may protect it overall.
The Bottom Line
Perhaps what I shared with my fellow interns in the car last summer was perfectly acceptable. I did not violate any company policies, and it felt appropriate to the moment, given their questions and general openness. The law would have protected my religious expression because it did not interfere with our work and would not be considered harassment. Most importantly, sharing personal information improved our morale and connectedness as interns, leading to possible company and employee benefits.
As a people, we should actively seek to make religious expression acceptable at work. Religion may be a taboo topic in business at times, but that can change. I urge companies and employers to focus on religious inclusion within legal, practical, and ethical parameters. I also urge employees to facilitate this environment by learning about legal protections and the immense benefits to companies and their employees. With time, I believe that the American workplace can achieve the religious inclusion that was hard to imagine in past generations.
Designer: Emma Keister
Editors: Kate Fowler and Kyla Christensen
Notes
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” accessed February 3, 2025, https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964.
- Peggy Fletcher Stack, “Is Religion Off-limits on the Job? What the Law Says May Surprise You,” The Salt Lake Tribune, November 10, 2019, https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/11/10/is-religion-off-limits/.
- U.S. Department of Commerce, “Religious Discrimination,” accessed February 3, 2025, https://www.commerce.gov/cr/reports-and-resources/discrimination-quick-facts/religious-discrimination#:~:text=Harassment%20based%20on%20religion%20can,to%20be%20hostile%20or%20abusive.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Religious Freedom in the Workplace,” accessed February 3, 2025, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/religious-freedom/religious-freedom-in-the-workplace?lang=eng.
- Pew Research Center, “Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics,” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, April 23, 2024, https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/database/.
- Jeff Brumley, “Another Angle to Corporate DEI Work: Support for ‘Faith Friendly’ Workplaces,” The Christian Century 140, no. 7 (July 2023): 18–19, https://byu.idm.oclc.org/login/?url=https://www.proquest.com/magazines/another-angle-corporate-dei-work-support-faith/docview/2870433409/se-2.
- Lars Hartenstein and Tom Latkovic, “The Secret to Great Health? Escaping the Healthcare Matrix,” McKinsey Health Institute, December 20, 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/the-secret-to-great-health-escaping-the-healthcare-matrix.
- Office of the Surgeon General, “Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, January 24, 2025, https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html.
- Paul Lambert, “Business Should Care About Faith,” Diplomatic Courier, October 10, 2023, https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/business-should-care-about-faith.