The purpose of this study is to find out whether French companies in the private sector were willing to make allowances to help religious minorities to integrate and express themselves. They also wanted to analyze if the accommodations caused resentment among other staff.
The authors carried out 28 semi-structured interviews with individuals in positions of authority at private sector companies.
They found three common strategies. The first was “flexibility within the rules,” meaning managers made allowances for religious practices. The second was the “separation strategy,” insisting on the strong adherence to rules and refusing to make allowances. The third common approach was a “common ground strategy” that found common points of interest between all workers.
Clashes between managers and religious workers are becoming more common in Europe as religiosity is on the rise. The results help managers to formulate effective strategies to deal with the issues.
