What's happening
This bill prohibits employment discrimination based on religious attire, clothing, or facial hair in New York State.
Why it matters
Directly protects the rights of employees to wear religious attire, clothing, or facial hair. as part of their sincerely held religious practices, meaning employers cannot require workers to remove or alter such items as a condition of hiring, promotion, or continued employment.
Clarifies that employers must make reasonable accommodations for religious attire or grooming. unless they can prove that doing so would cause undue hardship to their business operations, raising the standard for when exceptions can be made.
May impact workplace policies and dress codes across both public and private sectors. , requiring organizations to review and potentially revise rules that could inadvertently discriminate against employees for religious reasons.
Strengthens legal recourse for individuals facing religious discrimination at work. , making it clearer that adverse employment actions based on religious clothing or appearance are unlawful under state law.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Protect Religious Dress at Work
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
12 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Delivered to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.355
- Returned to assembly
- Died in senate
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Delivered to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.29
- Rules report cal.29
- Reported
Show 3 earlier actions
- Reported referred to rules
- Reported referred to codes
- Referred to governmental operations
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Protect Religious Dress at Work
In Senate Committee · Investigations And Government Operations · Sponsor Tony Avella
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4977
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 6, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN, CAHILL, PAULIN, SEPULVEDA, RAMOS, M. G. MILLER, QUART, AUBRY -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABBATE, BRAUNSTEIN, COLTON, COOK, DAVILA, HIKIND, HOOPER, LAVINE, LUPINACCI, MOSLEY, ORTIZ, PERRY, RIVERA, SOLAGES, WEINSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting discrimination against religious attire
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 10 of section 296 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 539 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
(a) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any employer, or an employee or agent thereof, to impose upon a person as a condition of obtaining or retaining employment, including opportunities for promotion, advancement or transfers, any terms or conditions that would require such person to violate or forego a sincerely held practice of his or her religion, including but not limited to the observance of any particular day or days or any portion thereof as a sabbath or other holy day in accordance with the requirements of his or her religion or the wearing of any attire, clothing, or facial hair in accordance with the requirements of his or her religion, unless, after engaging in a bona fide effort, the employer demonstrates that it is unable to reasonably accommodate the employee's or prospective employee's sincerely held religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an employee shall not be entitled to premium wages or premium benefits for work performed during hours to which such premium wages or premium benefits would ordinarily be applicable, if the employee is working during such hours only as an accommodation to his or her sincerely held religious requirements. Nothing in this paragraph or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01237-01-7
A. 4977 2
paragraph (b) of this subdivision shall alter or abridge the rights granted to an employee concerning the payment of wages or privileges of seniority accruing to that employee.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.