Oregon Passes Bill To Require Reasonable Religious Accommodation For Employees

Yesterday's Mid-Willamette Valley (OR) Statesman Journal reports that Oregon's legislature has passed and is about to transmit to the governor SB 786, the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act. The new law requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees' religious practices and observances. The employer need not make accommodations that impose undue hardship, i.e. that create significant difficulty or expense. The bill focuses particularly on employees' right to use vacation or leave for religious observances and their right to wear religious clothing on the job. However, under the bill, public school teachers may be barred from wearing religious clothing in the classroom. [Thanks to Don Byrd for the lead.]