Flu shots: Seek accommodations if employee refuses vaccine for religious reasons.

Employers in the health care and food services industries often want to make sure their employees get common immunizations such as the seasonal influenza vaccination. The idea, of course, is that employees who get a flu shot are less likely to come down with the flu and consequently less likely to spread that illness to vulnerable patients or customers.

Plus, employees who don't get the flu won't need as much sick leave and won't incur medical expenses for flu treatment.

But employers must reasonably accommodate employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs prohibit immunization.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for those...