AB1964 – California Workplace Religious Freedom Act

In September 2012, after a six-month campaign led by the Sikh Coalition, California’s governor signed the California Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA). Initiated and drafted by the Sikh Coalition, and originally titled AB1964, this law provides workers in California the nation’s strongest protections against religious discrimination.

Federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to make a reasonable accommodation of an employee’s religious practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. Although this legal formula sounds good in theory, it has been watered down by some federal court decisions. Specifically, the phrase “reasonable accommodation” has been defined in a way that allows employers to segregate visibly religious employees from customers and the general public in the name of corporate image.

In the absence of the strongest possible federal law against workplace religious discrimination, the Sikh Coalition made a strategic decision to strengthen laws of this kind at the state and municipal levels. Our first victory in this context was achieved in New York City, and our second was achieved in California.

Impact

The California WRFA explicitly prohibits workplace segregation based on religion. In addition, it clarifies the legal standard by which judges must review claims of workplace discrimination based on religion. Specifically, California now allows employers to deny requests for reasonable religious accommodations only if they prove objectively that such accommodations would constitute a “significant difficulty or expense.” Because workplace accommodations for Sikh religious practices typically cost nothing, Sikhs who work in California enjoy some of the nation’s strongest legal protections against employment discrimination. Indeed, thanks to the California WRFA, turbaned and bearded Sikhs are proudly serving as law enforcement officers throughout the state.

Why It Matters

Sikhs experience high levels of employment discrimination because of their religion. According to a 2010 report based on surveys of Sikhs in the San Francisco Bay Area, 12 percent of survey respondents said they had experienced workplace discrimination because of their religion. After the passage of the California WRFA, people who work in California have the nation’s strongest laws at their disposal in case they experience religious discrimination, and employers who discriminate may face legal consequences.