The Seventh-day Adventist Church, together with other religious and civil rights groups, has reaffirmed its support for the Workplace Religious Freedom Act—proposed United States legislation aimed at strengthening on-the-job legal protection for all people of faith.

“The ability to practice one’s faith is the essence of what it means to be free; it is at the heart of human dignity, and it is this freedom that defines America as a nation of liberty,” says James Standish, director of legislative affairs for the Adventist Church worldwide. He explains that while some limitations on religious freedom are unavoidable, Adventists believe that limitations should not be imposed lightly. 

“Requiring employers to take reasonable steps to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees is a small price for freedom,” says Standish. 

Current civil rights laws already require employers to accommodate the religious practices of their employees.  However, the courts have interpreted these laws narrowly, allowing some employers to avoid making a substantial effort at finding solutions for their religious employees.

For this reason, employees have sometimes had to choose between their faith and their job: Jews and Adventists, who keep Saturday as a holy day, or Sabbath; Sikhs, who wear religious headgear; and Muslims, who pray at set times throughout the day, are among those who have been affected.

Standish, along with members of the Coalition for Religious Freedom in the Workplace, met with Senator Barbara Mikulski July 13. Mikulski represents the state of Maryland, in which the Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters is located.

“Senator Mikulski has proven to be a friend of religious rights in the workplace in the past,” says Standish, “and during the meeting she displayed her clear understanding of the current need for additional legal protection.” 

During the discussion, Mikulski noted that she “is well aware of the Seventh-day Adventist interest” in protecting religious freedom in the workplace and she also committed to co-sponsor the Workplace Religious Freedom Act.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act would require employers to accommodate employees’ religious practices unless to do so would require “significant” difficulty or expense.

Currently, employers are obliged to incur no expense beyond a “de minimus,” or insignificant, amount. This stands in contrast to the much higher level of workplace accommodation required under United States law for others, such as the disabled.