Source: The Columbus Dispatch
On October 4, 1999, The Columbus Dispatch published an article on the increasing flexibility that some businesses are showing in accommodating religious practice in the workplace. National Electric in Columbus, Ohio has allowed its Muslim workers to leave their jobs for up to an hour and a half for Friday prayers. National Electric, with more than 300 workers, originally said no to the proposition made by mostly Somalian Muslim employees over a year ago, but then the Council on American-Islamic Relations intervened for the workers. National Electric was still hesitant, but the company agreed to work something out once the workers agreed to make up the hours that they missed. National Electric has gone even further in accommodating Muslims, allowing them to roll out mats in a corner of the plant for daily prayers. The flexibility of employers, in many cases, depends on how disruptive such flexibility would be to the overall work schedule.