UPS delivers $4.9 million lesson on adapting grooming rules for religion.

When it comes to company dress codes and grooming standards, remind supervisors that they can't simply say "Sorry, that's our policy" if an employee is requesting a change based on his or her religion.

That's because federal law "requires an employer, once it is aware that a religious accommodation is needed, to accommodate an employee whose sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance conflicts with a work requirement, unless doing so would pose an undue hardship."

Also, accommodation decisions must be consistent. For example, you must treat a request to wear a beard from an Amish applicant the same as a request from a Muslim applicant.

Recent case: UPS announced it is settling a long-running religious discrimination suit filed by the EEOC involving employees' facial hair. A group of applicants and employees will share a $4.9 million...