February 22, 2010

Last week, Muslim Public Affairs Council Government Liaison Alejandro Beutel testified before the Maryland General Assembly's House Economic Matters Committee to express its support for the Maryland Workplace Religious Freedom Act (HB 381). MPAC  testified alongside a coalition of Jewish, Christian and Sikh organizations.

SEE: MPAC's Written Testimony (pdf document)

Current workplace religious freedom protections are governed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII mandates employers must "reasonably accommodate" an employee's religious practice, observance and belief, except when they create "undue hardship" on the employee's business operations. In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the "undue hardship" clause to mean anything beyond a slight inconvenience. This rolled back legal protections to little more than a figleaf and has put observant people of faith at a competitive disadvantage in the workplace and job market.

The proposed bill, co-sponsored by Delegates Roger Manno and Sam Rosenberg, seeks to correct this significant gap in the law by explicitly defining what criteria constitute an "undue hardship" and strengthen "reasonable accommodation" protections for individuals seeking to take time off work for religious observance.

"This bill will provide relief to thousands of hardworking and competitive Marylanders who reasonable wish not to be forced to choose between their faith and employment," said Government Liaison Alejandro Beutel in his testimony before the committee. "Workplace religious freedom is not only 'a Muslim issue'; there are thousands of observant Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and other people of faith who will be affected by this bill."