Ariens CEO Stands By No Break Policy To Allow Muslim Prayer

Muslim employees of Ariens Co. walked away from their jobs last week after the Wisconsin manufacturer decided employees could no longer take unscheduled breaks to pray, but the company’s CEO says the strict break policy isn’t new.

Dan Ariens said the company has had the current break policy since the mid-1980s. Workers are given two scheduled breaks during a shift. The CEO said supervisors who were previously allowing Muslim workers to take additional prayer breaks weren’t following company policy.

“We just got to be disciplined about our standard break times,” he said. “The other (thing) is to be proactive in front of the rest of the employee population, so that they feel like it’s fair to them that everyone’s getting the same breaks during an eight-hour shift.”

Ariens said the policy isn’t meant to discriminate and that he hopes the company’s 53 Muslim employees will return to work.

Jaylani Hussein, from Minnesota’s Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Ariens hasn’t provided a substantial reason why they can no longer accommodate prayer breaks. He added that the policy affects more than just the company’s 53 Muslim employees.

“It’s really about freedom of religion,” he said.

Hussein said he hopes to mediate a conversation between Ariens and their Muslim employees.