How to ask for your Sabbath at work and what Groff v. DeJoy changed

Gerald Groff wanted to deliver the mail, and he wanted Sundays off. That is the whole case in one sentence, and it took years of litigation and a trip to the Supreme Court to settle it. Groff was a rural letter carrier in Pennsylvania and an evangelical Christian who observed Sunday as a day of worship and rest. When the Postal Service began Sunday delivery for Amazon packages, his schedule became a fight. He was disciplined, he resigned, and he sued.

I'll tell you what I like about this story. Nobody asked for a handout. He did not ask the government to pay him for the day off, or to close the post office, or to impose his faith on his co-workers. He asked to be allowed to do his job six days a week and keep one day for his God, with others in his workplace able to cover the Sunday shift. That is about as American a request as you can make.

This post is a playbook. It tells you what the law is, what changed in 2023, and what steps to take if you need a Sabbath, a holy day or a prayer break accommodated. A word of caution before the steps: this is general information and not legal advice. Your facts, your employer and your state will shape your options, and if a job is on the line you should talk to a lawyer or your state's fair employment agency.

What the law says, in plain terms

The federal rule is in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It bars an employer from discriminating against an employee because of religion. A 1972 amendment added something more: the law defines religion to include all aspects of religious observance and practice, and it requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious practice unless doing so would cause the employer an undue hardship.

So there are two questions in any case. One, is your request tied to a sincerely held religious belief or practice? Two, would accommodating it impose an undue hardship on the employer? The first question is about you. The second is about the business.

Title VII covers private employers with 15 or more employees, as well as governments, unions and employment agencies. If your employer has fewer than 15 employees, Title VII does not reach you, but many states have their own laws that cover smaller employers. The place to check is your state's fair employment agency or the state legislature's website.

What changed in 2023

Before 2023, the key case was Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, decided in 1977. In that case the Court said an employer did not have to accommodate an employee's religion if it would cost "more than a de minimis cost." De minimis means trivial. For almost fifty years, lower courts read that to mean an employer could refuse an accommodation over a trivial inconvenience or expense. Employers won most of these cases.

Groff v. DeJoy, decided on June 29, 2023, changed that. Justice Alito wrote for a unanimous Court. The Court held that "undue hardship" means a burden that is substantial in the overall context of an employer's business, and that an employer must show that the accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business. It rejected the reading of Hardison that let employers refuse over a de minimis cost. A few other points from the opinion are practical:

• Courts must look at all the relevant factors, including the particular accommodation requested and the nature, size and operating cost of the employer.
• An employer cannot rely on co-workers' grumbling about a religious practice. The Court said bias or hostility toward a religious practice or accommodation does not count as a hardship. A co-worker's impact matters only if it actually affects the conduct of the business.
• It is not enough for an employer to say that making other staff cover the shift is a hardship. The employer has to consider other options, such as voluntary shift swaps.

The Court did not decide Groff's case. It sent it back to the lower court to apply the corrected standard. So the opinion gives you a better rule, not a guaranteed outcome.

The playbook, step by step

Step one: know what you need

Write down exactly what you are asking for, in specific terms. "I need Sundays off" is a request. "I need to be away from work from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday" is a different request. Be clear about the days, the hours, the frequency and whether the request is permanent or for a particular season or holiday. The more specific you are, the easier it is for the employer to fit it into a schedule, and the harder it is to say it cannot be done.

Be ready to say in a sentence why. You do not need a theology lecture. An employer may ask for limited information if it has an objective reason to doubt that a belief is sincerely held or religious, but most requests are routine.

Step two: ask early and ask in writing

Ask as far in advance as you can, and put the request in an email or a letter. Keep a copy. The law does not generally require a specific form or magic words, and an employee does not have to say "Title VII." But a written request gives you a date and proof of what you asked for, and a verbal request in a hallway gives you neither.

A simple version: "I am writing to request a religious accommodation. My faith requires me to observe [day or hours] as a day of worship and rest. I would like to discuss a schedule that allows me to do that. I am happy to work other days and to help find a solution that works for the team."

Step three: offer solutions

The strongest requests come with proposals. Think about what would actually work in your workplace:

1. Voluntary shift swaps with co-workers who would like your hours.
2. A schedule change, such as working Saturday instead of Sunday or starting earlier on other days.
3. Using paid time off or floating holidays for the days you need.
4. Unpaid leave for the specific days if paid options do not exist.
5. A transfer to a position or location where the schedule fits.

Notice that many of these cost the employer little or nothing. After Groff, the employer has to show real, substantial costs to say no, so a ready list of workable options is your best friend.

Step four: have the conversation

Courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission expect an interactive discussion in good faith. Go in prepared and stay courteous. Listen to the business problem the manager describes. If the manager proposes an alternative, think about whether it meets your religious need. An offer that solves the manager's scheduling problem but still makes you work during your Sabbath is not an accommodation of your practice.

Step five: document everything

Keep a simple file. Save the written request, the employer's reply, any schedule showing who covered what, and notes of conversations with dates, names and what was said. If an issue arises later, a clean paper trail turns a he-said-she-said into a record.

If the answer is yes, get the details in writing as well. A verbal approval from a supervisor who later leaves is not worth much.

Step six: if the answer is no, ask why

Politely ask for the reason in writing. A good employer will explain what specific cost or burden makes the accommodation impossible. Compare that explanation to the Groff standard. "It would be inconvenient" and "some co-workers might complain" are the sort of reasons the Court said do not carry the day. "We have three staff on the overnight shift and no one else is qualified to cover" is a better reason, and you may need to propose a different arrangement.

Step seven: know the deadline for a charge

If you believe your employer refused an accommodation unlawfully or punished you for asking, you can file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The deadline is 180 days from the discriminatory act, extended to 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a law against the same kind of discrimination, which is the case in many states. Federal employees follow a different process, with a much shorter initial deadline of 45 days to contact an EEO counselor. Because the deadlines are short and strict, do not wait to see whether things improve.

The EEOC website explains how to file, and so does your state's fair employment agency. Employers are also barred from retaliating against you for asking for an accommodation or for filing a charge.

What an employer may still lawfully refuse

Groff made the employer's burden heavier. It did not wipe out the "undue hardship" defense. An employer can still lawfully say no in situations like these:

• The accommodation would impose substantial increased costs in relation to the business, such as the need to pay heavy overtime or hire significant additional staff to fill the gap.
• It would violate another law, or a legitimate safety requirement.
• It would require the employer to break a bona fide seniority system or a collective bargaining agreement. The Court in Hardison said that could not be required, and Groff did not address that point, so check how your workplace's rules and the case law apply.
• The job truly requires your presence at the very time you wish to be absent, and no reasonable substitute exists. Think of a small rural clinic that needs a specific person on duty, or a farm at harvest. These are not trivial cases, and the answer depends on the facts.

An employer is also not required to pay you for time you do not work, unless it already provides paid leave you are entitled to use. Unpaid leave can be a legitimate accommodation.

Here is a hypothetical to show how the logic plays out. Picture a warehouse with forty workers, where Sunday is an ordinary shift. One employee asks to be excused every Sunday for worship and offers to work Saturday. Three co-workers volunteer to take the Sunday shift because they like the Sunday premium. The employer says the other employees would resent it. Under Groff, resentment is not a hardship, and the employer would have to show a substantial cost, which seems hard when volunteers are ready. Change the facts: a two-person shop where the only other worker cannot legally run the machinery. Now the employer has a more serious claim. The same rule produces different outcomes because the facts differ.

The point of the whole thing

Notice who benefits. A Saturday Sabbath for an observant Jew, a Sunday for a Protestant or Catholic, a Friday prayer for a Muslim, and a Seventh-day Adventist's sundown-to-sundown Sabbath are all covered, and the same standard applies to each. The case is not a Christian carve-out. It is a rule about whether a worker can be both a good employee and a faithful believer, and it applies to all of them equally. A rule that protected only your own religion would not be worth having when somebody else's majority shows up.

It also strikes me as the right balance on the merits. A business owner should not be forced to run at a loss or shut his doors for the sake of one worker's schedule. But a business owner should have to do more than shrug. Working families have always had to fit faith and work together, and the law should expect the same effort from both sides.

For related reading on workplace and small-business rules, see the new employer's checklist for the first year of payroll and taxes and how a small business owner can fight a federal rule before it is final. For the larger picture of how religious liberty cases have developed, From Hobby Lobby to the Little Sisters, the long fight over one mandate and What the 9-0 Fulton decision means for foster care and faith agencies cover two other fights, and a baker, a web designer and the line between customers and messages covers a third. You can also read Seven Things Americans Get Wrong About the First Amendment for what the First Amendment does and does not say.

The bottom line

• If your job conflicts with your Sabbath or holy days, ask in writing, early and specifically, and come with workable solutions.
• Groff v. DeJoy (2023) means your employer must show a substantial cost, not merely a small or trivial one, before refusing. Resentment from co-workers does not count.
• Keep records of every request, reply and schedule, and watch the deadline: 180 days, or 300 in many states, to file a charge with the EEOC, and 45 days to contact a counselor if you work for the federal government.
• Check your state's fair employment law, since it may cover smaller employers or offer more protection than Title VII.
• This is general information, not legal advice. If your job is at risk, talk to a lawyer or your state agency before you act.