Massachusetts General Laws ch. 151B, §4:
It shall be an unlawful practice:
1A. It shall be unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to impose upon an individual as a condition of obtaining or retaining employment any terms or conditions, compliance with which would require such individual to violate, or forego the practice of, his creed or religion as required by that creed or religion including but not limited to the observance of any particular day or days or any portion thereof as a sabbath or holy day and the employer shall make reasonable accommodation to the religious needs of such individual. No individual who has given notice as hereinafter provided shall be required to remain at his place of employment during any day or days or portion thereof that, as a requirement of his religion, he observes as his sabbath or other holy day, including a reasonable time prior and subsequent thereto for travel between his place of employment and his home, provided, however, that any employee intending to be absent from work when so required by his or her creed or religion shall notify his or her employer not less than ten days in advance of each absence, and that any such absence from work shall, wherever practicable in the judgment of the employer, be made up by an equivalent amount of time at some other mutually convenient time. Nothing under this subsection shall be deemed to require an employer to compensate an employee for such absence. “Reasonable Accommodation”, as used in this subsection shall mean such accommodation to an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice as shall not cause undue hardship in the conduct of the employer’s business. The employee shall have the burden of proof as to the required practice of his creed or religion. As used in this subsection, the words “creed or religion” mean any sincerely held religious beliefs, without regard to whether such beliefs are approved, espoused, prescribed or required by an established church or other religious institution or organization.
Undue hardship, as used herein, shall include the inability of an
employer to provide services
which are required by and in compliance with all federal and state
laws, including regulations or
tariffs promulgated or required by any regulatory agency having
jurisdiction over such services or
where the health or safety of the public would be unduly compromised by
the absence of such
employee or employees, or where the employee’s presence is
indispensable to the orderly
transaction of business and his or her work cannot be performed by
another employee of
substantially similar qualifications during the period of absence, or
where the employee’s
presence is needed to alleviate an emergency situation. The employer
shall have the burden of
proof to show undue hardship.