Chapter 9.32 — RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

It is hereby declared as the public policy of the City of West Hollywood that it is necessary to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to be free from discrimination on account of religious beliefs.

The city recognizes that the practice of discrimination against persons on account of religious beliefs deprives the city of the full utilization of its capacity for development and advancement and substantially and adversely affects the interest of the city, employees, employers, and the public in general.

(Prior code § 4240; Ord. 85-15 § 1, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

As used in this chapter:

"Employee" shall mean and include any person employed by an employer as defined below.

"Employer" shall mean and include any person regularly employing one or more persons, or any person acting directly or indirectly as an agent of an employer.

"Employment agency" shall mean and include any person undertaking for compensation to procure employees or opportunities to work.

"Labor organization" shall mean and include any organization which exists and is constituted for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning grievances, terms or conditions of employment, or of other mutual aid or protection.

"Person" shall mean and include one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, labor organizations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, and receivers or other fiduciaries.

"Religious beliefs" shall mean and include any traditionally recognized religion or beliefs, observances, or practices which an individual sincerely holds and which occupy in his or her life a place of importance parallel to that of traditionally recognized religions. (Prior code § 4241; Ord. 85-15 § 2, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

The opportunity to seek, obtain and hold employment without discrimination on account of religious beliefs is hereby recognized as and declared to be a right of all persons. (Prior code § 4242; Ord. 85-15 § 3, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, or labor organization to do any of the following acts wholly or partially because of a person's religious beliefs:

• a. To fail or refuse to hire or promote, transfer, assign, reassign or reward any employee or applicant or otherwise to discriminate against any person with respect to compensation,

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City of West Hollywood, CA § 9.32.040

PUBLIC PEACE AND SAFETY

§ 9.32.040

terms, conditions or privileges of employment.

• b. To discharge, discipline, demote, transfer, assign or reassign any employee or applicant or otherwise to discriminate against any person with respect to compensation, terms, or conditions of employment.

• c. To limit, segregate, or classify employees in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any person of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the person's status as an employee.

• d. To refuse to hire or employ the person or to refuse to select the person for a training program leading to employment, or to bar or to discharge such person from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against such person in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment in regard to a training program.

• e. To exclude, expel or restrict from membership such person, or to provide only separate or segregated membership or to discriminate against any person because of the religious beliefs of such person in the election of officers of the labor organization or in the selection of the labor organization's staff or to discriminate in any way against any of its members or against any employer or against any person employed by an employer.

• f. To fail or refuse to refer any person for employment, to limit, segregate or classify persons seeking employment.

• g. Unless specifically acting in accordance with federal or state equal employment opportunity guidelines and regulations, to print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any publication, or to make any non-job-related inquiry, either verbal or through use of an application form, which expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination or any intent to make any such limitation, specification or discrimination based upon a person's religious beliefs.

• h. To discharge, retaliate, expel or otherwise discriminate against any person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under this chapter or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this chapter.

• i. For any person to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any of the acts forbidden under this chapter, or to attempt to do so.

• j. To harass an employee or applicant or any other person, because of religious beliefs. Harassment of an employee or applicant by an employee other than an agent or supervisor of the employer shall be unlawful if the entity, or its agents or supervisors, knows or should have known of this conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. All reasonable steps to prevent harassment shall be taken. Loss of tangible job benefits shall not be necessary in order to establish harassment.

• k. To print, publish, advertise or disseminate in any way, any notice or advertisement with respect to employment, membership in, or classification or referral for employment or training by any organization, which discriminates based on religious belief.

• l. Observance of Religious Days.

  1. It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any employer to prohibit, prevent or

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City of West Hollywood, CA § 9.32.040

WEST HOLLYWOOD CODE

§ 9.32.050

disqualify any person from, or otherwise to discriminate against any person in, obtaining or holding employment, because of an employee's refusal to work on any particular day or days or any portion thereof as a Sabbath or other holy day in accordance with the requirements of the employee's religious beliefs.

2. Except as may be required in an emergency or where personal presence is indispensable to the orderly transaction of business, no person shall be required to remain at his or her place of employment during any day or days or portion thereof that, as a requirement of the employee's religious beliefs, the employee observes as a Sabbath or other holy day, including a reasonable time prior and subsequent thereto for travel between the employee's place of employment and the place required by such belief; provided, however, that any such absence from work shall, wherever practicable in the judgment of the employer, be made up by an equivalent amount of time and work at some other mutually convenient time, or shall be charged against any leave with pay ordinarily granted, other than sick leave; provided further, however, that any such absence not so made up or charged, may be treated by the employer of such person as leave taken without pay.

• m. If an employer, employment agency or labor organization asserts that an otherwise unlawful discriminatory practice is justified because it creates an undue hardship upon the conduct of the employer's business, that employer, employment agency or labor organization shall have the burden of proving:

  1. That the discrimination is in fact justified as a necessary result of an undue hardship upon the conduct of the employer's business; and

  2. That there exists no less discriminatory means of accommodating the religious beliefs of the employee.

(Prior code § 4243; Ord. 85-15 § 4, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

An employer, employment agency or labor organization shall make reasonable accommodation to the known religious beliefs of an applicant or employee unless the employer, employment agency, or labor organization can demonstrate that the accommodation is unreasonable because it would impose an undue hardship upon the employer's business.

• a. "Reasonable accommodation" may include, but is not limited to, job restructuring, job reassignment, modification of work practices, or allowing time off in an amount equal to the amount of non-regularly scheduled time the employee has worked in order to avoid a conflict with his or her religious observances.

• b. In determining whether a reasonable accommodation would impose an undue hardship on operations of an employer, employment agency or labor organization, factors to be considered include, but are not limited to:

  1. The overall size of the employer, employment agency, labor organization with respect to the number of employees, number and type of facilities;

  2. The type of the establishment or operation, days and/or hours of operation, including the composition and structure of the work force or membership;

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City of West Hollywood, CA

PUBLIC PEACE AND SAFETY

§ 9.32.050

§ 9.32.090

3. The nature and cost of the accommodation involved;

4. Reasonable notice to the employer, employment agency, labor organization of the need for accommodation; and

5. Any available reasonable alternative means of accommodation.

• c. Reasonable accommodation includes, but is not limited to, the following specific employment policies or practices:

  1. Scheduled times for interviews, examinations, and other functions related to employment opportunities;

  2. Dress standards or requirements for personal appearance;

  3. An employer, employment agency or labor organization shall not require membership from any employee or applicant whose religious creed prohibits such membership. An applicant's or employee's religious creed shall be reasonably accommodated with respect to union dues.

(Prior code § 4244; Ord. 85-15 § 5, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

Pre-employment inquiries regarding an applicant's availability for work on certain days or hours shall not be used as a pretext for ascertaining his or her religious creed, nor shall such inquiry be used to evade the requirement of reasonable accommodation. However, inquiries as to the availability for work on certain days or hours are permissible where reasonably related to the normal business requirements of the job in question.

(Prior code § 4245; Ord. 85-15 § 7, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

Every employer, employment agency or labor organizations shall keep a copy of this chapter posted in an area frequented by employees. This chapter shall be posted in an area where it may be easily read by all employees during the workday. If the location or nature of the employees' work or other condition makes compliance with this posting requirement impractical, every employer, employment agency or labor organization shall keep a copy of this chapter and make it available to every employee upon request.

(Prior code § 4246; Ord. 85-15 § 8, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

Actions under this chapter must be filed within one year of the alleged discriminatory acts. (Prior code § 4247; Ord. 85-15 § 10, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

The provisions of this chapter shall be construed liberally for the accomplishment of its purposes. (Prior code § 4248; Ord. 85-15 § 11, 1985; Ord. 85-21, 1985)

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City of West Hollywood, CA

PUBLIC PEACE AND SAFETY

§ 9.36.010

§ 9.36.020