Wisconsin manufacturer stands by policy on Muslim prayer breaks

A Wisconsin manufacturing plant has been accused of discrimination after changing its policy so Muslim employees can only pray during meal breaks.

The 53 employees wanted the manufacturer of snowblowers and lawn mowers to continue a previous, more lenient practice of allowing Muslims to leave their work stations at different times – such as at dawn and sunset – to pray as their faith requires of them.

The company said letting the workers pray during unscheduled breaks disrupts production schedules.

Ariens Co., however, said Tuesday that it can handle the matter internally and that it’s not interested in negotiating through the Council for America-Islamic Relations.

The company, founded more than 80 years ago, employs about 2,000 people, half of them in Brillion.

“They have to make a family decision, we’re not making an employment decision for them”, Ariens said. Jaylani Hussein, of CAIR in Minneapolis, said that the two scheduled break times don’t line up with Islamic prayer times, which is why the workers need a third break.

Ariens has urged the Muslim employees to return to work before they are terminated for violations of the attendance policy.

At the moment, given that Ariens hasn’t conclusively proven that unscheduled prayer breaks do indeed lower productivity or hamper business operations, the measure is actually illegal and abusive, breaking legislation adopted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

“Our staff is committed to providing a great place to work for all employees and have met with members of our Somalian employee group to better understand their needs”, the statement said.

Ariens has said it’s sticking with a policy that doesn’t accommodate special prayer breaks, despite having bent the rules some when there were fewer Muslim employees. We consulted with local representatives who are of Muslim faith to help provide sustainable solutions. The sunset prayer is usually the issue for second-shift workers because the other prayers have a more flexible window of time.

“In hindsight, we should not have given them papers”, he said. Earlier this month, Cargill changed its policy to allow the employees to reapply for their jobs in 30 days instead of six months.

There are over 900 workers at Ariens, in the Brillion area. He said none of the workers have been fired and that he also wants to find a resolution that will allow them all to come back to their jobs without hindering production.