by Mary Beth Barry
A CBA member recently faced an employee situation it never expected.
After hiring a new employee, the organization became aware of conduct that was inconsistent with Catholic teaching. Leadership was understandably concerned about the potential for scandal and needed to determine how the organization could appropriately respond.
But the situation also exposed a larger issue.
Although the employer is a Catholic organization, it had done very little through its HR practices to explain what that identity meant for its employees. Its job postings and hiring process did not clearly communicate expectations related to its Catholic mission. Employees had not clearly and consistently been told what it meant to support that mission or how Catholic teaching might affect expectations regarding conduct, speech, behavior, benefits, or workplace practices.
The organization simply had never anticipated having to address this type of conflict, so it had not prepared for it.
That assumption may sound familiar. Many Catholic employers don’t expect to encounter an employee whose conduct, behavior, or public statements significantly conflict with Catholic teaching. They may have operated for years without an issue or assume that people who choose to work for a Catholic organization already understand what that means.
But what happens when an employee doesn’t understand—or share—the expectations that come with working for a Catholic organization?
That is when an employer can find itself in a difficult position. The organization may need to address conduct that conflicts with Catholic teaching while realizing that its expectations were never clearly communicated to the employee.
Employers may also assume that because they are Catholic, they can simply discipline or terminate an employee whose conduct conflicts with Catholic teaching. Religious employers have important protections that may apply to employment decisions involving religious belief, practice, mission, and doctrine. But simply identifying as Catholic does not necessarily resolve every employment issue involving conduct contrary to Catholic teaching.
To maximize those protections, Catholic employers should be intentional about establishing their Catholic identity and consistently connecting their employment practices and expectations to their mission and beliefs. This can provide a stronger foundation when an employer needs to make hiring, discipline, termination, or other employment decisions based on Catholic teaching.
What if the job posting said little about Catholic identity, the interview never addressed mission-related expectations, the job description did not connect the employee’s work to the mission, and the handbook did not clearly explain what Catholic identity meant for employee conduct?
Now the organization may want to rely on expectations it never clearly communicated. Clear, consistent communication of your Catholic identity and employee expectations can also help strengthen the foundation for the religious-liberty protections available to Catholic employers.
That was the challenge our member was confronting. The immediate employee situation mattered, but it also revealed a larger need to strengthen how the organization defined, documented, and communicated its Catholic identity—for its current workforce and future employees.
Where Do You Go From Here?
If you find yourself in a similar situation, address the immediate issue with appropriate leadership and legal counsel, but don’t focus only on the employee issue that was brought to your attention. Use the situation to identify where your HR practices need to be strengthened.
For this member, we recommended making the strengthening of its Catholic identity throughout its HR practices a priority. Doing so would provide greater clarity for employees while strengthening their religious-liberty protections.
Importantly, this was not simply about creating documentation to address one employee. The organization needed to clearly establish and communicate what its Catholic identity means for all employees—and then consistently reflect those expectations in its employment practices going forward.
Start With Your Current Employees
The employee handbook is a practical place to begin because it reaches your entire workforce.
Does your handbook help employees understand what your Catholic mission means for them? Does it clearly communicate expectations for supporting the mission and, where appropriate, expectations regarding conduct, speech, behavior, workplace culture, benefits, and other employment practices?
Once those areas are strengthened, communicate the changes to everyone. Don’t simply distribute an updated handbook and ask employees to sign an acknowledgment. Explain what has changed, why it matters, and what is expected going forward. This includes employees whose conduct may have prompted the review but who were never clearly told those expectations in the first place.
Then Look at Future Hires
Next, move that clarity upstream into your hiring process.
Start with your job descriptions and use them to strengthen your job postings. Candidates should understand that they are considering employment with a Catholic organization and what that may mean for them before they accept an offer.
Make sure your interviews reinforce the same message. Help candidates understand your mission, applicable expectations, and how that mission influences your workplace. This gives both the employer and candidate an opportunity to identify significant misalignment before employment begins.
Make Sure Your Managers Know the Message
Finally, make sure the people responsible for communicating these expectations understand them.
Interviewers should know what to emphasize with candidates. HR, managers, and others responsible for onboarding or reviewing the handbook should be able to explain your Catholic identity and what it means for employees.
Your documents can say all the right things, but they are far less useful if the people delivering the message don’t understand or reinforce them.
CBA Can Help
You don’t have to tackle this work alone. CBA members can review our Legal Counsel’s Master Memo on Maximizing Catholic Employers’ Religious Liberty and Speech Defenses, along with our HR Conversations articles and resources in the Members Only Room for additional practical guidance.
We can also review your employee handbook, job descriptions, job postings, and other HR documents and provide recommendations to help strengthen your Catholic identity and maximize your legal protections throughout your employment practices. Our goal is to help members identify practical places to start.
The member who came to us could not change what had—or had not—been communicated when the employee was hired. But the organization could change what happened next.
If you recognize similar gaps in your organization, don’t wait for a difficult employee situation to expose them. Taking steps now to clearly establish and consistently communicate your Catholic identity can help prevent future misunderstandings while also strengthening your ability to make employment decisions consistent with your Catholic mission and teaching. Start with your current employees, strengthen your hiring practices, and make sure the people delivering the message know how to communicate it clearly.