A Reasonable Atheist

HR Bill 1431 is called the "The Workplace Religious Freedom Act." Thomas.gov sums it up like this:

Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2007 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to modify the definition of "religion" for purposes of coverage under that Act by requiring employers to make an affirmative and bona fide effort to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of employees. Defines the term "perform the essential functions" to exclude practices having a temporary or tangential impact on an employee's ability to perform job functions, such as practices relating to clothing or taking time off work. Sets forth factors to consider in determining whether an accommodation causes undue hardship. Defines "employee" to require an ability to perform essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation.

Requires removal of the conflict between employment requirements and the employee's religious practices in order for an accommodation to be considered reasonable.

Considers an employer's refusal to permit an employee's use of general leave to remove a religious conflict solely because the leave will be used to accommodate religious practices to be an unlawful employment practice.

Prohibits the amendments made by this Act from applying to conduct occurring prior to enactment.

So this means you could be fired or not hired in the first place based on your religious belief? I admit, I'm not good at parsing this kind of language.
[Via Friendly Atheist » Workplace Religious Freedom Act (HR 1431)]

Labels: church/state separation