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I am currently training with a wedding photographer to determine if I will be a second shooter for her as her current second shooter is returning to school. I have shot one wedding with her and plan on shooting another one in a few weeks. She plans on making her decision by the end of the summer, but things have been going very well and I'm quite hopeful.

I suspect she may occasionally photograph some events that would be against my beliefs. In those cases, I would not be able to attend.

Should I tell this to my potential employer before she offers me a position? If so, do I tell her as soon as possible or wait until she offers me the job?

Monica Cellio
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nicholas79171
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not really about the workplace, but about legal and possibly ethical issues. – DJClayworth Jun 27 '15 at 03:43
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    Similar case: We once had a programmer who for religious reasons refused to work with any code which had anything to do with interest on loans. We convinced him that a career in financial software might not be the best under this restriction. – Philipp Jun 27 '15 at 09:40
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    @DJClayworth my understanding was "the workplace" can take many different forms. While it's usually an office setting, employment can look many different ways. There are also lots of questions on here about becoming employed. But, it's my first time asking a question so I may be wrong on that front. – nicholas79171 Jun 27 '15 at 10:59
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    I've made an edit to remove the "can she do this?" aspects and focus on what the asker can do about the situation. @nicholas79171, feel free to [edit] further if I've misunderstood your question. I think with this edit this is on-topic here. – Monica Cellio Jun 28 '15 at 03:48
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    Is the second shooter paid by the assignment or is there a base salary? Does the photographer work with more than one person? What happens if the second shooter is sick or on vacation? – Monica Cellio Jun 28 '15 at 03:51
  • @DJClayworth I strongly disagree: Ethics and beliefs have not prevented us in the past from accepting similar questions. The question is good as it currently stands (with M.C's edits). OP: The question I linked discusses a similar issue but from the employer's perspective (and therefore not a duplicate as I originally thought) Edit: I read the original Q and see that your comment was justified – rath Jun 28 '15 at 03:58
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    I'll weigh in on this being an in-scope question, as it's not about policy or legal matters, but how to handle reconciling personal beliefs with workplace requirements. That being said, I believe the OP should understand that being present at an event or producing a photographic record of it does not constitute endorsing it. You should look into journalism for ethical guidance. Only the officiant and the participants have "standing" to decide what is/is not ethical. – Wesley Long Jun 29 '15 at 01:06
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    Without knowing a thing of the details, I can presume a bit. For instance, I can presume the things your beliefs may come in conflict with have to do with the recent Supreme Court decision. If that presumption is in any way accurate, I would highly suggest you rethink wanting to be a wedding photographer, and at the least, let the photographer know immediately. It is very probable that for the next few months anyway, a more than small percentage of marriages will be alternative to what has been the norm. – CGCampbell Jun 29 '15 at 01:11
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    Btw, note that the statistics suggest "occasionally" is going to be about one job in 10. That's rather a lot, actually – keshlam Jul 01 '15 at 00:33

2 Answers2

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If you can't do the work, that's a legitimate reason for not hiring. Or firing. You probably want to tell her before she hires you rather than be fired after committing yourself; you may or may not be able to work out an accommodation where you simply don't work (and aren't paid) for those jobs.

You may want to consider finding a profession which doesn't force you to confront things you really can't deal with. Or learning how to do your best work even when you don't feel like it, which is the mark of a true professional in any field.

keshlam
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  • Even if the work I can't do is a small minority of the work? I have no idea what the frequency of this happening is, though. And thankfully this is just a side job while I finish up school to make a few hundred bucks on the weekends every now and then. – nicholas79171 Jun 27 '15 at 02:28
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    That's up to the business. Only they can decide how much this will inconvenience them, how much extra hiring a temporary replacement will cost, and whether you are valuable enough to them to make that effort. As far as I know, "intolerant" is not a protected class unless you can show that it's due to a psychiatric disorder, and even then a business is only obligated to make reasonable accommodations and it isn't clear that a small business could do so in this case. – keshlam Jun 27 '15 at 02:34
  • All good points. And I guess the most responsible thing to do would be to tell the potential employer about this situation as soon as possible so in case it is a deal breaker, I don't waste either of our time? – nicholas79171 Jun 27 '15 at 02:36
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    @nicholas79171 It's not any different from any other non-negotiable requirement that someone might have. If you were for example, terrified of dogs and the studio sometimes did portraits with people and their pets, you need to tell your potential employer that you couldn't work those shoots and let them weigh the inconvenience of you not being able to do everything the studio might require with the quality and quantity of what you are able to do. – ColleenV Jun 27 '15 at 03:05
  • @ColleenV Thanks for that comparison, I was unsure because I feel as though religious beliefs have slightly different rules, but that makes a lot of sense. Thank you! – nicholas79171 Jun 27 '15 at 03:08
  • @nicholas79171 Religion gets somewhat different rules: For example, religious attire that doesn't interfere with one's job. If you won't do the job, though, there's no protection. – Loren Pechtel Jun 27 '15 at 04:31
  • @ColleenV IANAL but I think this canine phobia would be a disability and the ADA would require reasonable accomodation. – emory Jun 27 '15 at 12:51
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    @emory Not every fear is a clinical phobia. Plenty of people are frightened of dogs but still able to function and have a normal life. I think that you are being very dismissive of the challenges that someone with a real disability faces. – ColleenV Jun 27 '15 at 13:31
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    I think there's a distinction between "can't do the work", and "won't do the work". The OP apparently is physically capable of doing the work, just doesn't want to. It's the difference between just disliking dogs, and having a clinical phobia. (See e.g. here for defining a phobia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynophobia ) – jamesqf Jun 27 '15 at 19:13
  • For the workplace, all that matters is "won't create photographs with dogs". Whether it's a legitimate reason or not doesn't make a difference to the employer. The dog phobia could be considered a disability, but it's a disability that prevents you from doing the job, so the employee wouldn't get protection for that. – gnasher729 Jun 28 '15 at 21:53
  • @emory: I write software. If I had a dog phobia and my co-worker insisted on bringing his dog to the office, I would be protected because a dog phobia shouldn't stop me from doing my work. If I had a phobia of computer monitors, that would be a different matter. Same for a photographer with a dog phobia. The employer would have to remove dogs from the office, but being unable to take photos of dogs wouldn't be protected (or so I assume). – gnasher729 Jun 28 '15 at 21:56
  • @colleenv some people are afraid of dogs and it is a clinical phobia and others not. I am not an expert in this matter and could not diagnose individuals. – emory Jun 28 '15 at 23:36
  • @gnasher729 i mostly agree. What if your coworkers bring in their assistance dogs? What if dog photography was a minuscule part of the photographers business? What do blind programmers do? Why couldnt monitor phobic programmers do the same as blind programmers? – emory Jun 28 '15 at 23:40
  • OK, since the dog example proved way more controversial than it should have been let me try again. The photographer is a vegan who feels so strongly that eating flesh is cruel and unhealthy that he refuses to photograph any event where meat is being eaten. This conviction is just as deeply held as any religious conviction. The candidate has an ethical obligation to make this deal-breaker known before they accept a position. The studio owner doesn't have to hire them, but could choose to accommodate the restrictions on the type of work the candidate is willing to do. – ColleenV Jun 29 '15 at 00:48
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If you cannot do a part of your job, you should tell your employer. Not doing so or even outright lying could be an offense you can be fired for later.

Your employer will weight your skills (including limitations of those skills) against his or her needs. Maybe there are a lot of photographers and the company can simply send someone else. Maybe you are the only one and the company cannot afford to lose the deal. Maybe you will find a company with similar constraints and you will fit right in.

If you just don't like it, and there are other people who could do the job, you could try to market your disability by praising the other photographers:

I really don't connect with the atmosphere at those marriages. $colleague said s/he likes those festivities and feels the romance and friendship. $colleague will do a way better job capturing the joy and happiness on film than I could, maybe s/he should go.

However, if you cannot go to such a wedding at all, you should probably look for another job. Or another religion. Or another country. But all three together don't seem to mix very well.

nvoigt
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  • Thanks for this answer. As stated above, it's only a side job on weekends to help out with school so I will be okay with not getting this job if it comes to that. – nicholas79171 Jun 27 '15 at 11:04