As you may remember, BSHRM recently asked our membership if BSHRM should show support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in an upcoming Capitol Hill visit...
The ENDA’s purpose is to provide a comprehensive federal prohibition of employment discrimination on
the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. The act mentions several areas in which discrimination is banned, including labor organizations, employment policies and procedures, training programs, and employment agencies essentially mirroring existing Title VII language on those issues. Furthermore, the act does reject quotas, disparate impact claims, and provides an exemption for religious organizations.
While national SHRM supported the bill, several of our members expressed concern regarding the way the bill was written, including issues related to problems defining sexual orientation, the broadness of the bill that included "associational discrimination", conflict with current laws surrounding free exercise of religion, as well as the general vagueness of the bill.
With that in mind, we asked our members to give us their views via a BSHRM Flash Poll. Here's what we heard:
Total Members Voting (127)
1. Do you advocate BSHRM supporting the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as currently written?
-Yes - 34 Votes (33.0%)
-No - 93 Votes (73.2%)2. If you voted "no", could modifications be made to the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that would allow you to support the bill?
-Yes - 36 Votes (26.8%)
-No - 57 Votes (52.3%)
-N/A - 16 Votes (14.7)3. What modifications could be made to the ENDA that would allow you to support the bill? (Check all that apply)
-A. I don't need modifications, I support the bill as currently written - 19 Votes (24.1%)
-B. More Precise Definition of "Perceived Sexual Orientation" - 41 Votes (51.9%)
-C. Elimination of "Associational Discrimination" Language in Bill - 39 Votes (49.4%)
-D. Resolution of Conflicts on ENDA with Free Exercise of Religion - 34 Votes (43.0%)
-E. Other (List in Comments)- 15 Votes (19%.0)
Hit me in the comments of this post with any questions or concerns about the poll. The Hill visit team, led by VP of Government Affairs Kimberly Pruitt, used the poll results to share the collective thoughts of our membership with members of congress, which feels kind of progressive. We'll try to do more flash polls in the future and use the results accordingly!
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