Thursday, March 10, 2011

[IWS] CRS: RELIGION & the WORKPLACE: LEGAL ANALYSIS OF TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 AS IT APPLIES TO RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS [20 January 2011]

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor----------------------
Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

 

Congressional Research Service (CRS)

 

Religion and the Workplace: Legal Analysis of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as It Applies to Religion and Religious Organizations

Cynthia Brougher, Legislative Attorney

January 20, 2011

http://www.opencrs.com/document/RS22745/2011-01-20/download/1005/

[full-text, 10 pages]

 

Summary

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination by certain

employers. Among other things, Title VII generally prohibits employers from discriminating

against employees on the basis of religion. Title VII prohibits discriminatory treatment of

employees on the basis of their religious beliefs and requires employers to make reasonable

accommodations for employees’ religious practices. Religious organizations, however, may be

exempt from some of the prohibitions of Title VII.

 

Congress regularly has proposed legislation that would amend the definition of religion under

Title VII and has introduced proposals to clarify which actions would qualify as religious

discrimination under the act. At times, legislative proposals that would not directly affect Title

VII’s prohibition on religious discrimination raise questions related to the protections provided

for religion. In other cases, legislative proposals incorporate protections offered by Title VII into

new civil rights bills.

 

This report reviews the scope of Title VII as it applies to religion and religious organizations and

the requirements of the anti-discrimination protections and the accommodations provision. It also

analyzes the exemptions available to religious organizations for the non-discrimination rules. The

report also addresses the protections based on Title VII’s religious exemption that have been

included in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) proposals from previous sessions

of Congress. A substantially similar version of previous ENDA proposals is expected to be

reintroduced in the 112th Congress.

 

Contents

General Application of Title VII ..................................................................................................1

Scope of Protection for Religion and Religious Belief .................................................................1

Unlawful Employment Practices Related to Religion...................................................................2

Exemptions ................................................................................................................................2

Accommodations Requirement....................................................................................................4

Congressional Interest.................................................................................................................6

 

Contacts

Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................7



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This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
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