Mixing work and religion
by Dona DeZube
June 2002

Monster Finance Career Expert finds out from the experts how to balance one’s personal religious needs and a career including: how employers must reasonably accommodate employees' religions and how to check for religious tolerance and diversity. Valerie offers her viewpoint on whether you should wait until after the negotiation process to bring up the subject…

“Since you're not obligated to mention your religion to employers, you can wait until you've accepted the job offer before mentioning your need for accommodation. At that point, you're more protected, says Valerie Frederickson of Valerie Frederickson & Co., a Menlo Park, California, executive search firm.

“Once a company has made you an offer, it's more willing to acquiesce,’ Frederickson says. They've invested a tremendous amount of effort in hiring you. And from a discrimination standpoint, if they've already made you an offer and you bring these things up, they can't refuse without making themselves liable for a discrimination lawsuit.”