In an effort to assist corporations in creating workplaces where religious freedom flourishes and religious discrimination diminishes—without threatening the bottom line--the Institute on Religion and Public Policy (IRPP) has launched a Corporate Social Responsibility Program (CSRP).

Through the two-pronged program, the Institute seeks to further promote sound stewardship in the corporate world while assisting corporations in accommodating freedom of religion in and out of the workplace. The Institute has divided its program into two segments: the first trains corporations on how to allow freedom of religious expression within the workplace; the second trains corporations on how to implement it along their supply chains. In addressing both segments, businesses can integrate the policy and training needed to accommodate employees while encouraging a cultural shift within the corporation in a fiscally responsible manner.

Within the internal accommodation component, the Institute works directly with human resources and other management to create effective policies that meet minimum religious freedom standards as expressed in such documents as the EEOC’s guidelines on religious accommodation. The Institute has created a training curriculum in conjunction with human rights, religious, legal and business experts to train human resource personnel and company managers on religious accommodation and how to guarantee its protection within small, medium and large businesses.

Furthermore, the Institute works with corporate management to institute policies and plans to combat religious discrimination and religious harassment, all without causing undue hardship on the corporation.

By implementing responsibility through a corporation’s supply chains, businesses can assure their consumers of a product in full compliance with international standards of religious freedom from inception of product to purchase. The Institute will work directly with corporations to ensure they comply with international standards and will draft the necessary legal documents to ensure that all corporate contractors are complying with said standards.

Corporations are natural leaders and powerful driving forces for change in communities around the world. They can transcend political and religious boundaries and foster a strong relationship in a way other organizations and multilateral agencies cannot.

The Institute Corporate Responsibility Program aims to assist businesses in effectively and easily implementing religious accommodation and guaranteeing religious freedom, while assisting the corporate world in guaranteeing that they are in compliance with domestic and international religious accommodation standards. The guarantee of such fundamental rights within a business is essential to any diversity program and any comprehensive corporate social responsibility program.