When evaluating religious accommodations, accept sincerity of employee's stated beliefs.

When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Groff v. DeJoy opinion in June (see "Accommodations Spotlight" on page 4), it suggested the EEOC's existing guidance provided an appropriate framework for making religious accommodation decisions.

In fact, the EEOC is already pushing the envelope on how far employers can go if they want to deny requests for reasonable religious accommodations. It doesn't generally approve of employers probing too deeply into why an employee might have a faith-based objection to following an employer's dress and grooming rules.

Recent case: Triple Canopy in Virginia provides security guards to federal agencies. Its dress and grooming code forbids male employees from having beards. One employee said he sincerely believes Christian men must wear beards.

Triple Canopy asked him to substantiate his request to wear a beard with either an explanation of his...