On July 28, 2025, the Trump administration issued a memorandum to all heads and acting heads of federal government departments and agencies related to the protection and enforcement of religious expression by federal workers. The memo, entitled “Protecting Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace,” is intended to provide guidance on federal employees’ rights “to engage in religious expression in the Federal workplace” and states that “Agencies should allow personal religious expression by Federal employees to the greatest extent possible unless such expression would impose an undue hardship on business operations.”
Permissible religious expressions by federal employees now include:
- Displaying or wearing items used for religious purposes or of religious significance (i.e. Bibles, religious artwork, jewelry, posters, etc.);
- Engaging in private religious expression in work areas to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious private expression;
- Engaging in conversations regarding religious topics with fellow employees, provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature;
- Inviting co-workers to religious services or to pray in groups at the office when not on duty.
The new guidance makes clear that supervisors have the same rights to engage in such religious conversations as non-supervisory employees, but that such conversations may not be the basis for workplace discipline. Furthermore, under the memo, agencies do not have to allow religious expressions if they create a hostile work environment or interfere with operations or efficiency of work.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already prohibits discrimination in employment due to an individual’s protected status, including religion. The law further requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious practices and beliefs in the workplace so long as doing so would not cause an undue hardship on the employer’s business and operations. The administration’s memo advises agencies to review and, if needed, revise internal policies to ensure that they are appropriately protecting religious expression.
While the memo is applicable only to federal agencies and federal employees, the Trump administration’s continued efforts to increase religious expression in the federal workplace could be a sign of future changes in the private sector, or changes to the enforcement priorities of the EEOC related to religious expression. Specifically, it is not unreasonable to predict that the EEOC may at some point encourage private employers to adopt similar practices and policies. There is also concern, however, about how the new guidance will play out in diverse workplaces, given the express permission given to employees to proselytize to their non-religious co-workers or co-workers of a different faith. What one individual views as well-intentioned attempts to share religious viewpoints could be interpreted by another as unwanted or harassing in nature. Thus, while employees have a right to bring their religious beliefs and expression into the workplace, employers should nevertheless work carefully with counsel as they encounter issues regarding such expression, as even under this new guidance, religious speech could be considered harassment if it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile work environment.
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