II 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3628 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 26 (legislative day, September 17), 2008 Mr. Kerry 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 accommodations in employment, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2008.

2.

Amendments

(a)

Definitions

Section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e) is amended— (1)in subsection (j)— (A)by inserting (1) after (j); and (B)by adding at the end the following: (2)For purposes of paragraph (1), the practice of wearing religious clothing or a religious hairstyle, or of taking time off for a religious reason, imposes an undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business in accommodating such practice only if the accommodation imposes a significant difficulty or expense on the conduct of the employer’s business when considered in light of factors set forth in section 101(10)(B) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111(10)(B)). ; and (2)by adding at the end the following: (o)(1)The term taking time off for a religious reason means taking time off for a holy day or to participate in a religious observance. (2)The term wearing religious clothing or a religious hairstyle means— (A)wearing religious apparel (as defined in section 774 of title 10, United States Code); (B)wearing jewelry or other ornament as a religious practice or an expression of religious belief; (C)carrying a symbolic object as required by religious observance; or (D)adopting the presence, absence, or style of a person’s hair or beard as a religious practice or an expression of religious belief. .

3.

Effective date; application of amendments; severability

(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

This Act and the amendments made by section 2 do not apply with respect to conduct occurring before the date of enactment of this Act. (c)

Severability

(1)

In general

If any provision of an amendment made by this Act, or any application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the amendments made by this Act and the application of the provision to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected. (2)

Definition of religion

If, in the course of determining a claim brought under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), a court holds that the application of the provision described in paragraph (1) to a person or circumstance is unconstitutional, the court shall determine the claim with respect to that person or circumstance by applying the definition of the term religion specified in section 701 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e), as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.