Workplace Religious Freedom Act Introduced
Friday, the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) - a bill supported by the Baptist Joint Committee and a wide range of religious freedom advocates - was introduced into the House.
WRFA will require employers to accommodate the religious observances of their employees as long as providing such accommodations will not impose an "undue hardship" upon the employer and the accommodation does not impair an employee from performing the "essential functions" of a job.How long has this been in coming? In 2002, BJC counsel K. Hollyn Hollman wrote "Why we need a Workplace Religious Freedom Act." You can read it here.
Passage of WFRA will not guarantee that an employer will grant every request for accommodation. It will not end all conflicts between the religious practices of employees and the job requirements of their employers. In many cases, however, it will give employers an incentive to remove unnecessary burdens on religious employees, whose practices are too easily ignored under current law.The bill, HR 1431, was sent to the Committee on Education and Labor. A Senate version is expected soon.