Labor Department Proposes Religious Exemption Clarification For Government Contractors

Executive Order 11246 requires that all federal government contracts contain a provision barring the contractor from discriminating against employees on various grounds, including religion. The Executive Order, however, contains an exemption for "a religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society, with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, educational institution, or society of its activities." Today the Department of Labor published in the Federal Register proposed rules (full text) to clarify the scope of this exemption. Among other things, the proposal clarifies the kinds of entities covered by the exemption:

Religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society means a corporation, association, educational institution, society, school, college, university, or institution of learning that is organized for a religious purpose; holds itself out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose; and engages in exercise of religion consistent with, and in furtherance of, a religious purpose. To qualify as religious a corporation, association, educational institution, society, school, college, university, or institution of learning may, or may not: have a mosque, church, synagogue, temple, or other house of worship; be nonprofit; or be supported by, be affiliated with, identify with, or be composed of individuals sharing, any single religion, sect, denomination, or other religious tradition.

According to Axios, opponents of the rule change argue that it would allow government contractors to fire LGBTQ employees, or unmarried employees who are pregnant, on the basis of the employer's religious views.