Trump's week in review: From Faith Summit to Epstein developments
3. Trump admin. encourages robust religious freedom protections for federal employees
In a memo published Wednesday, newly confirmed Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Scott Kupor, urged the heads of executive branch agencies to take a wide variety of steps to accommodate the religious beliefs of federal government employees.
Kupor ordered federal agencies to give employees the option to telework “on days of religious significance, or on days immediately before such days, so as to avoid travel or commuting which may interfere with preparation or observance.”
The OPM head also advised allowing telework options for employees who “wish to take breaks in the workday to engage in fasting-related practices, such as prayer or rest, in a quieter or more private setting” and providing “flexibility for employees to engage in time-specific religious practices during breaks in the workday.”
The memo also ordered agencies to provide “religious compensatory time off for a religious observance or practice as required by the employee’s personal religious belief” unless doing so would interfere with “the efficient accomplishment of an agency’s mission.” Employees can earn such compensatory time off by “working overtime before and/or after the religious observance.”
Another option agencies were urged to consider is Maxiflex work schedules, saying this could give employees “core hours” where they are required to be at work unless they have an excused absence and “flexible hours” where they can choose their arrival and departure times.
During flexible hours, employees could “attend a religious practice or observance during the flexible hours of the work schedule and continue to perform full-time work without the need to take leave or other time off.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
