I think it's time for a new job, if you're so unhappy there. If it was me i would find a job and a company that would respect my beliefs.
As you mentioned it's a small company, and alot of regulations don't apply.
Employment Lawyers
- Thread starter xobklynqt143
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I think it's time for a new job, if you're so unhappy there. If it was me i would find a job and a company that would respect my beliefs.
As you mentioned it's a small company, and alot of regulations don't apply.
They are forcing her to discard all none-kosher food from her desk, that seems unreasonable to me. If they are not being discriminatory, they should be providing a microwave in a separate location for the Jews, since they are being "accommodated" for their religious believes. Making normal people without special religious needs to change their way at work is discriminatory.
As for the time off, people at my job are required to come in early or on the weekends to make up the time, letting them have extra time off would not be fair to the people getting the same salary in the office.
EEOC Regulations does apply, you just can't do much to them to get justice, unlike a larger public companies.
Here are some of the Discriminatory Practices listed on the EEOC site.
- Location
- NY
They are requiring her to discard all bread/grain products and non kosher products only during the Passover holiday. It is their company, and they have provided accommodations for everyone it seems.
BTW Pierce, you could rethink and reword your 'normal people' comment. It is insulting.
Russ I don't think Pierce meant anything bad by using the word "normal".
Before this thread spins out of control lets realize that not all Jewish people keep kosher, and those that do have a right to do so without being made fun of on this board.
Before this thread spins out of control lets realize that not all Jewish people keep kosher, and those that do have a right to do so without being made fun of on this board.
xobklynqt143
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- Location
- Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
"Normal" meant the poeple are not requesting special treatment, not that jews are not not normal, but they do require special treatment in that company.
- Location
- Washington Heights, NY
Seventh-day Adventist also observe their sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. If a company were to allow one people to observe and another not then that should be grounds for a complaint.
And as far as working on one religion's holiday and not on another religion's holiday that doesn't seem fair and is a reasonable issue to me.
- Location
- Staten Island
Stop leaving food and candy in your desk and wearing that skirt on wednesday's and the jeans on thursday's..And stop leaving early everyday..Just kidding.. You got it bad...I feel for you...
- Location
- Overland Park, KS
i would like to clarify a few things if i may here -
observant jewish practice is very strictly regulated. it is not a pick and choose menu of practice, and it is not done for wishy-washy reasons. It is a serious commitment to a set of practices that go hand-in-hand with the theological concepts that for hundreds of years kept Jews completely separate from non-jews.
thanks to that separateness, there are still jews today. but now jews have integrated into society here in America as well as in other countries. there are many different denominations of judaism now, and not all of them are as observant as others. less-observant jews are practically "invisible" in their jewishness, and more observant jews are often marginalized or worse.
I just want you to understand that first of all, your employers are not asking anything of you that they themselves are not doing. second of all, what they are asking of you is coming from their belief system. they are not forcing belief on you, and are not even forcing behavior on you, they are asking that while you are in their work "home," you enable them to observe the way they think God requires them to observe. If you were to transgress the rules in the kitchen, they themselves would unknowingly transgress the laws of kashrut, and that would be horrible to them. If you were to transgress the rules in the kitchen and they knew it, they'd have to spend time and or money "fixing" the transgression in the kitchen.... I am amazed and impressed that they provided a place for eating non-kosher food at all.
Passover is a very special case when food that is not kosher for passover cannot be in a place that is owned by Jews at all. If it is, that is a transgression of Jewish law, and it is a terrible offense. I am amazed the office is open at all during Passover.
And i guess that's another ast thing i want to explain - the concept of the offense. Please understand that this is theology we are talking about. you can't argue about it. it is simply belief about one's relationship with God and all the behaviors that flow from the understanding of that relationship. The offense to them does not just bother them, it makes it impossible for them to function normally (i'm talking about the kashrut stuff. the dress code stuff is more an issue of modesty and being upset at lack thereof - it is purely custom, but that custom is deeply regulated and mandated by hundreds of years of rabbinic teaching - it, too, is not a light thing to discard)
Observant Jews practice the way they do because they feel that God expects them to live their life a certain way. I learned in comparative religion classes that Jesus taught that in his living and dying as he did, he fulfilled the obligations of future Christians so that they would not have to follow the laws that God gave the Israelites in the first five books of the Bible. (Observant) Jews can't do this, can't stop observing the laws. They have been doing it for over 2000 years, and they will probably continue to do it for many, many years to come. It connects them to each other - it defines their community. It defines them as belonging to their community.
For 2 thousand years, it kept them very much marginalized. I thought that there was a place for "modern observant" Jews (those who follow the laws of the first five books of the Bible and yet wish to take part in modern culture and life in the non-jewish society) in our society. I think that these employers are not being unreasonable in their requests. They are doing the best they can to live in two worlds, basically.
xobklyn - i would strongly encourage you to speak to your employer directly and to share how you feel. if your employer is malicious and nasty to you because you are not jewish, then you should not work for such a person/company. but be ready for a dialogue with him or her. be ready to listen, to really hear what she or he has to say about the decisions in the office. ask about the dress code and argue if you want to! ask about the calendar/holiday stuff, but do it as respectful equals socially-speaking.
I am very sad when i hear stuff like this (non-Jews being unhappy by the way they are treated by their Jewish employers), and i hope that it resolves well. good luck.
observant jewish practice is very strictly regulated. it is not a pick and choose menu of practice, and it is not done for wishy-washy reasons. It is a serious commitment to a set of practices that go hand-in-hand with the theological concepts that for hundreds of years kept Jews completely separate from non-jews.
thanks to that separateness, there are still jews today. but now jews have integrated into society here in America as well as in other countries. there are many different denominations of judaism now, and not all of them are as observant as others. less-observant jews are practically "invisible" in their jewishness, and more observant jews are often marginalized or worse.
I just want you to understand that first of all, your employers are not asking anything of you that they themselves are not doing. second of all, what they are asking of you is coming from their belief system. they are not forcing belief on you, and are not even forcing behavior on you, they are asking that while you are in their work "home," you enable them to observe the way they think God requires them to observe. If you were to transgress the rules in the kitchen, they themselves would unknowingly transgress the laws of kashrut, and that would be horrible to them. If you were to transgress the rules in the kitchen and they knew it, they'd have to spend time and or money "fixing" the transgression in the kitchen.... I am amazed and impressed that they provided a place for eating non-kosher food at all.
Passover is a very special case when food that is not kosher for passover cannot be in a place that is owned by Jews at all. If it is, that is a transgression of Jewish law, and it is a terrible offense. I am amazed the office is open at all during Passover.
And i guess that's another ast thing i want to explain - the concept of the offense. Please understand that this is theology we are talking about. you can't argue about it. it is simply belief about one's relationship with God and all the behaviors that flow from the understanding of that relationship. The offense to them does not just bother them, it makes it impossible for them to function normally (i'm talking about the kashrut stuff. the dress code stuff is more an issue of modesty and being upset at lack thereof - it is purely custom, but that custom is deeply regulated and mandated by hundreds of years of rabbinic teaching - it, too, is not a light thing to discard)
Observant Jews practice the way they do because they feel that God expects them to live their life a certain way. I learned in comparative religion classes that Jesus taught that in his living and dying as he did, he fulfilled the obligations of future Christians so that they would not have to follow the laws that God gave the Israelites in the first five books of the Bible. (Observant) Jews can't do this, can't stop observing the laws. They have been doing it for over 2000 years, and they will probably continue to do it for many, many years to come. It connects them to each other - it defines their community. It defines them as belonging to their community.
For 2 thousand years, it kept them very much marginalized. I thought that there was a place for "modern observant" Jews (those who follow the laws of the first five books of the Bible and yet wish to take part in modern culture and life in the non-jewish society) in our society. I think that these employers are not being unreasonable in their requests. They are doing the best they can to live in two worlds, basically.
xobklyn - i would strongly encourage you to speak to your employer directly and to share how you feel. if your employer is malicious and nasty to you because you are not jewish, then you should not work for such a person/company. but be ready for a dialogue with him or her. be ready to listen, to really hear what she or he has to say about the decisions in the office. ask about the dress code and argue if you want to! ask about the calendar/holiday stuff, but do it as respectful equals socially-speaking.
I am very sad when i hear stuff like this (non-Jews being unhappy by the way they are treated by their Jewish employers), and i hope that it resolves well. good luck.
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Sorry but this thread is closed, it's only going downhill from here.
Tahl had the most eloquent explanation, and the best advice.
I hope you try to work it out with your employer before you hire a lawyer to try and sue them.
and Crox, if they only hired Jewish people that would be discrimination :sigh:
Tahl had the most eloquent explanation, and the best advice.
I hope you try to work it out with your employer before you hire a lawyer to try and sue them.
and Crox, if they only hired Jewish people that would be discrimination :sigh:
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