The New York State Division of Human Rights has ordered a review of compliance by employers of a Division ruling last year that employers must attempt to accommodate the religious needs of Sabbath observers. Commissioner Robert J. Mangum said that the Division’s Bureau of Employment Rights would sample a selected group of industries, particularly the larger accounting firms, banks and insurance companies and public utilities.
The guidelines adopted by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1967 require an employer to make “reasonable accommodations” to the religious needs of prospective employes and specify that a blanket policy against the hiring of Sabbath observers is discriminatory.
The New York commission action was taking following intervention by the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs. Marvin Schick, retiring head of the commission, disclosed that the commission is currently negotiating with the U.S. Civil Service Commission for the promulgation of rules requiring all federal agencies throughout the country to accommodate the religious needs of Sabbath observers.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
