The Washington Post reports:

Federal employees can display religious items at work, pray in groups while not on duty and encourage co-workers to adopt their faith, according to guidance released Monday by the Office of Personnel Management, which manages the federal civilian workforce.

In a memo titled “Protecting Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said that the government workforce should be “a welcoming place” for employees who practice a religious faith.

“Allowing religious discrimination in the Federal workplace violates the law,” Kupor said in the memo. “It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly-qualified employees of faith.”

Although the core of OPM’s guidance on religious expression differs little from past administrations, it “presents a substantial shift in that it encourages employees to express their religious beliefs in the workplace,” said Stefanie Camfield, associate general counsel and director of human resource services at Engage PEO.

Historically, Camfield said, employers have been advised to keep religious conversation at work to a minimum, noting that “the more religion is allowed into the workplace, the more likely it is that differences of opinion are raised.”

“In the current political environment, these types of differences have a way of turning into arguments,” Camfield said. ”In some cases, it leads to outright hostility, which makes it more likely that an employee will feel singled out and discriminated against for their beliefs.”

In the memo, Kupor outlined various activities that should not warrant disciplinary action, noting that federal employees “may engage in conversations regarding religious topics with fellow employees, including attempting to persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views, provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature.” [Continue reading…]