Taylor Telford of The Washington Post reports on new federal guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that affirms the rights of federal employees to express their religious beliefs in the workplace. This includes wearing religious attire, displaying religious items in personal spaces, and engaging in respectful conversations about faith, as long as these actions do not disrupt operations or violate anti-discrimination policies.
The guidance aims to clarify existing protections under the First Amendment and relevant executive orders, ensuring that religious expression is treated with the same respect as other forms of personal identity.
The new guidance can help address “the unintended consequence of all federal faith-based employee resource groups (ERGs) being suspended when diversity offices were closed across the federal government,” said Brian Grim, founding president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes faith and religious freedom for all in the workplace.