by Mary Beth Barry
Would a job candidate understand your Catholic identity before accepting an offer? Just as importantly, would they understand what that identity may mean for them as an employee—including expectations for supporting your mission and, when appropriate, expectations regarding conduct, speech, or behavior consistent with your Catholic values?
Would your current employees understand those expectations? Would they know how your Catholic identity influences your workplace and employment practices, and how their individual roles help advance your mission?
These are important questions for every Catholic employer to consider.
Religious employers have important statutory and constitutional protections that recognize their ability, in appropriate circumstances, to make employment decisions based upon their religious beliefs, mission, and values. To maximize these protections, however, employers should be intentional about clearly and consistently establishing their Catholic identity throughout their employment practices. Their HR architecture—the documents, policies, communications, and practices that shape the employment relationship—should reflect that identity, communicate what it means for employees, and identify the mission-related expectations that flow from it. The clearer and more consistent an organization is about who it is, what it believes, and how those beliefs influence its workplace, the better positioned it is to both advance its Catholic mission and maximize the religious liberty protections available to it.
Start at the Beginning
Think about what a candidate sees and hears when they first encounter your organization.
For some members, your Catholic identity may be obvious from your name. For others—including Catholic-owned businesses and some nonprofit or for-profit organizations—it may not be obvious at all. But even when “Catholic” is right there in your name, you should not assume candidates understand what that actually means for them as employees.
Take another look at your job postings and job descriptions. Do they say something meaningful about your mission? Do they explain how the position supports that mission? If there are faith-related responsibilities or expectations associated with the position, are those clear?
Then think about your interview process. Are you talking about your mission and what it means to work for your organization? Are candidates given the opportunity to understand what you expect of employees and whether they can support those expectations?
By the time someone accepts a position, there should be little question about who you are as an organization or what it means to work for you.
Keep the Message Going
The same message should continue once someone is hired.
Your offer letters, onboarding, handbook, policies, training, and other employee communications are all opportunities to reinforce your Catholic identity. If supporting your mission and following certain standards of conduct are important expectations, employees should hear that more than once and in more than one place.
This is where consistency becomes especially important. We recommend carrying your identity and expectations throughout the employment relationship—from job descriptions and hiring through policies, performance management, corrective action, and termination.
Even some of the routine pieces of HR are worth another look. Does your EEO statement recognize your rights as a religious employer? Are you displaying CBA’s Summary of Legal Rights poster along with required government workplace notices? Small pieces like these help make sure your HR practices consistently reflect who you are rather than unintentionally sending a different message. CBA’s sample EEO Statement, for example, expressly recognizes an employer’s religious rights.
Don’t Let Your Mission Disappear After Onboarding
One easy trap is to talk a lot about mission during hiring and orientation—and then rarely talk about it again.
If supporting your Catholic mission is part of an employee’s role, it should remain part of conversations about their work. When appropriate, performance evaluations should address whether employees are meeting mission-related responsibilities and expectations, not just whether they are completing their technical job duties.
The same is true when problems arise. If an employee’s conduct or speech is a concern because it conflicts with Catholic values or harms your organization’s ability to carry out its mission, make sure the real reason for the concern is appropriately communicated and documented. Your documentation should not turn a genuinely religious concern into a purely secular one.
Take a Quick Look at Your HR Practices
You don’t need to tackle every HR document at once. Instead, look at the employee experience from beginning to end and ask yourself:
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Would candidates know that our Catholic identity matters to how we operate?
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Would they understand what that may mean for them before accepting a job?
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Do our employees know what we expect when it comes to supporting our mission and Catholic values?
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Do they understand how their particular job helps advance our mission?
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Do our job descriptions, handbook, performance practices, and other HR documents tell a consistent story about who we are?
CBA has already developed resources to help you with many of these areas, including job postings, interviewing, employee handbooks, religious-rights notices, and our legal memorandum, Maximizing Religious Liberty and Speech Defenses. You can also find sample language, templates, and additional practical resources in the Members Only Room.
The bottom line is simple: Don’t assume candidates and employees know what your Catholic identity means just because they know you are a Catholic employer. Tell them. Show them through your HR practices. Help them understand what it means for their role and what you expect of them. Doing that consistently not only strengthens your mission—it can also help maximize the religious liberty protections available to your organization.