Bill Text: OR HB3686 | 2010 | 1st Special Session | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to unlawful discrimination in employment practices; and prescribing an effective date.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2010-04-01 - Chapter 105, (2010 Laws): Effective date July 1, 2011. [HB3686 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2010-HB3686-Engrossed.html

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     75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2010 Special Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .

LC 122

                           A-Engrossed

                         House Bill 3686
                 Ordered by the House February 8
           Including House Amendments dated February 8

Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (at the request of Ecumenical
  Ministries of Oregon, Oregon Family Council, Northwest
  Religious Liberty Association and Portland State University
  Muslim Student Association)

                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.

  Includes difficulty or expense to maintain religiously neutral
work environment among factors to be considered when determining
if requested accommodation creates undue hardship for employer
that is school district, education service district or public
charter school.
  Repeals provisions prohibiting teacher in public school from
wearing religious dress while engaged in duties as teacher and
sanctioning teacher for doing so.
   { +  Takes effect July 1, 2011. + }

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to unlawful discrimination in employment practices;
  amending ORS 659A.033; repealing ORS 342.650 and 342.655; and
  prescribing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 659A.033 is amended to read:
  659A.033. (1) An employer violates ORS 659A.030 if:
  (a) The employer does not allow an employee to use vacation
leave, or other leave available to the employee, for the purpose
of allowing the employee to engage in the religious observance or
practices of the employee; and
  (b) Reasonably accommodating use of the leave by the employee
will not impose an undue hardship on the operation of the
business of the employer as described in subsection (4) of this
section.
  (2) Subsection (1) of this section applies only to leave that
is not restricted as to the manner in which the leave may be used
and that the employer allows the employee to take by adjusting or
altering the work schedule or assignment of the employee.
  (3) An employer violates ORS 659A.030 if:
  (a) The employer imposes an occupational requirement that
restricts the ability of an employee to wear religious clothing,
to take time off for a holy day or to take time off to
participate in a religious observance or practice;

  (b) Reasonably accommodating those activities does not impose
an undue hardship on the operation of the business of the
employer as described in subsection (4) of this section; and
  (c) The activities have only a temporary or tangential impact
on the employee's ability to perform the essential functions of
the employee's job.
  (4) A reasonable accommodation imposes an undue hardship on the
operation of the business of the employer for the purposes of
this section if the accommodation requires significant difficulty
or expense. For the purpose of determining whether an
accommodation requires significant difficulty or expense, the
following factors shall be considered:
  (a) The nature and the cost of the accommodation needed.
  (b) The overall financial resources of the facility or
facilities involved in the provision of the accommodation, the
number of persons employed at the facility and the effect on
expenses and resources or other impacts on the operation of the
facility caused by the accommodation.
  (c) The overall financial resources of the employer, the
overall size of the business of the employer with respect to the
number of persons employed by the employer and the number, type
and location of the employer's facilities.
  (d) The type of business operations conducted by the employer,
including the composition, structure and functions of the
workforce of the employer and the geographic separateness and
administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or
facilities of the employer.
  (e) The safety and health requirements in a facility, including
requirements for the safety of other employees and any other
person whose safety may be adversely impacted by the requested
accommodation.
   { +  (f) The degree to which an accommodation may constrain
the obligation of a school district, education service district
or public charter school to maintain a religiously neutral work
environment. + }
  SECTION 2.  { + ORS 342.650 and 342.655 are repealed. + }
  SECTION 3. { +  This 2010 Act takes effect on July 1, 2011. + }
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