Congress considers workplace freedom bill again

Posted: 2/29/08

Congress considers workplace freedom bill again

By Greg Trotter

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Congress again is considering a bill to protect religious expression in the workplace, but the bill—bandied about for a decade or more—continues to draw steep opposition from business interests.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act would require employers to be more accommodating of employees who wish to wear religious headgear, for example, or take time off for holy day observances.

The bill has broad bipartisan support and backing from an unusually large swath of religious groups, including Seventh-day Adventists, Orthodox Jews, Catholic bishops, the Islamic Supreme Council of North America and the Church of Scientology.

But it also has attracted opposition from business groups like the HR Policy Association, which represents corporate human resources departments, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Both are concerned that one employee’s religious expression may unfairly impact co-workers or customers.

Many corporations maintain Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already protects employee rights, and they say the bill would further complicate an already complex set of rules, said Michael Gray, an attorney for HR Policy.

“The law goes too far in demanding that companies provide accommodation for one employee while risking unfairly burdening the other employees in the process,” Gray testified at a recent House committee hearing.

The debate centers on what steps an employer must take before employees’ requests become an “undue hardship” for managers.

Supporters of the bill, including Richard Foltin, legislative director for the American Jewish Committee, say a 1977 Supreme Court decision weakened protections when it found that anything more than a minimal added cost was to be considered an “undue hardship.”

The proposed bill says employers must accommodate employees unless it means a “significant difficulty or expense.” It would also provide tests to clarify terms like “reasonable accommodation,” and “undue hardship,” Foltin said.

“This bill will clarify the employer’s responsibility for accommodation,” Foltin said.

Some opponents also are concerned a redefinition might affect the rights of third parties—other employees who would have to cover for fellow workers, for example.

Helen Norton, a law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, raised the scenario of a patient who is denied access to contraceptives from a hospital employee who objects on moral or religious grounds.

Under the current law, the hospital would not have to make an exception for that employee, but the proposed bill would change that, Norton said.

But supporters say the bill gets to the very heart of American religious freedom. Seventh-day Adventists, for instance, hold worship services on Saturdays, and believers shouldn’t be forced to choose between work and faith, said James Standish, the church’s legislative affairs director.

“If we raise our daughters to be Seventh-day Adventists, how can we know they won’t be discriminated against?” he asked, pulling out a poster-sized picture of his children.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., a cosponsor of the bill, said she was confident language could be crafted that would satisfy all sides—as long as all parties are open to compromise.

“We’re not that far apart,” she said. “If we can come out with a bill that everyone complains about and no one is happy with, that’s a good bill.”