Religious Observance Policy

Gettysburg College is fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. If they choose, all faculty, administrators, and support staff have the right to engage in essential practices of their faith while minimizing conflict with work, academic or athletic requirements.

In order to recognize the practices of members of our Gettysburg College community, the College follows the following guidelines:

For faculty, administrators, and support staff

Requests by a faculty member for leave for religious accommodation may be granted under this Policy if the faculty member has made arrangements for any missed classes and the granting of the leave will not result in undue hardship for the College or its students. Faculty that miss scheduled class time due to a religious observance must make appropriate alternate arrangements for that missed time to minimize impact on the students’ learning and inform the department chair of those arrangements.

For Administrators and Support Staff, the use of vacation leave is governed by the Employee Handbook. Vacation days requested for the express purpose of religious observance will not be unreasonably denied by the staff member’s supervisor if the staff member has accrued vacation leave and the granting of leave or vacation time will not result in undue hardship for the Department or the College. If the staff member has no accrued vacation leave available, the College will review any request for time off for religious observance consistent with the requirements of federal and state law.

Retaliation

Any attempt to retaliate against an individual who files a religious accommodation request or otherwise utilizes this Policy is strictly prohibited.

Nothing in this Policy exempts a Gettysburg College faculty member, administrator, or support staff member from fulfilling their job responsibilities. Violations of this policy will be reported to the Chief Diversity Officer and/or the Director of Human Resources and resolved with the assistance of the appropriate Vice President or the Provost.

Religious holidays

The College wishes to draw attention to observances which are time sensitive in nature. The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life maintains a calendar of religious observances.

View religious holidays