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
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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
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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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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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