S 677 IS

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 677

To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to establish provisions with

respect to religious accommodation in employment, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 17, 2005

Mr. SANTORUM (for himself, Mr. KERRY, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. BROWNBACK,

Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. SMITH, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. TALENT, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. COBURN, and

Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

 

 

 

A BILL

To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to establish provisions with

respect to religious accommodation in employment, and for other purposes.

  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States

  of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the `Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

  (a) Definitions- Section 701(j) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.

  2000e(j)) is amended--

    (1) by inserting `(1)' after `(j)';

    (2) by inserting `, after initiating and engaging in an affirmative and bona

    fide effort,' after `unable';

    (3) by striking `an employee's' and all that follows through `religious' and

    inserting `an employee's religious'; and

    (4) by adding at the end the following:

  `(2)(A) In this subsection, the term `employee' includes an employee (as

  defined in subsection (f)), or a prospective employee, who, with or without

  reasonable accommodation, is qualified to perform the essential functions of

  the employment position that such individual holds or desires.

  `(B) In this paragraph, the term `perform the essential functions' includes

  carrying out the core requirements of an employment position and does not

  include carrying out practices relating to clothing, practices relating to

  taking time off, or other practices that may have a temporary or tangential

  impact on the ability to perform job functions, if any of the practices

  described in this subparagraph restrict the ability to wear religious

  clothing, to take time off for a holy day, or to participate in a religious

  observance or practice.

  `(3) In this subsection, the term `undue hardship' means an accommodation

  requiring significant difficulty or expense. For purposes of determining

  whether an accommodation requires significant difficulty or expense, factors

  to be considered in making the determination shall include--

    `(A) the identifiable cost of the accommodation, including the costs of loss

    of productivity and of retraining or hiring employees or transferring

    employees from 1 facility to another;

    `(B) the overall financial resources and size of the employer involved,

    relative to the number of its employees; and

    `(C) for an employer with multiple facilities, the geographic separateness

    or administrative or fiscal relationship of the facilities.'.

  (b) Employment Practices- Section 703 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2) is

  amended by adding at the end the following:

  `(o)(1) In this subsection:

    `(A) The term `employee' has the meaning given the term in section

701(j)(2).

    `(B) The term `leave of general usage' means leave provided under the policy

    or program of an employer, under which--

      `(i) an employee may take leave by adjusting or altering the work schedule

      or assignment of the employee according to criteria determined by the

      employer; and

      `(ii) the employee may determine the purpose for which the leave is to be

      utilized.

  `(2) For purposes of determining whether an employer has committed an unlawful

  employment practice under this title by failing to provide a reasonable

  accommodation to the religious observance or practice of an employee, for an

  accommodation to be considered to be reasonable, the accommodation shall

  remove the conflict between employment requirements and the religious

  observance or practice of the employee.

  `(3) An employer shall be considered to commit such a practice by failing to

  provide such a reasonable accommodation for an employee if the employer

  refuses to permit the employee to utilize leave of general usage to remove

  such a conflict solely because the leave will be used to accommodate the

  religious observance or practice of the employee.'.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

  (a) Effective Date- Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act and the

  amendments made by section 2 take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

  (b) Application of Amendments- The amendments made by section 2 do not apply

  with respect to conduct occurring before the date of enactment of this Act.

END