State anti-discrimination laws often provide employees with greater protections than Title VII. Employers should therefore become familiar with the laws of the states in which they operate. New York and New Jersey’s anti-discrimination laws provide a good example:
- Greater Coverage: New York State Human Rights Law applies to employers with four or more employees, while the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination applies to all employers, regardless of the number of employees.
- Additional Accommodation Requirements: Unlike federal law, both New York and New Jersey law require employers make a “bona fide effort” to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs or practices. N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(10)(a); N.J.S.A. § 10:5-12q(1).
- Stricter Undue Hardship Standard: An accommodation is an “undue hardship” under New York State Human Rights Law if it requires significant expense or difficulty (including a significant interference with the safe or efficient operation of the workplace or a violation of a bona fide seniority system). N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(10)(d)(1). An accommodation constitutes an “undue hardship” under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination if it requires “unreasonable expense or difficulty, unreasonable interference with the safe or efficient operation of the workplace, or a violation of a bona fide seniority system or a violation of any provision of a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.” N.J.S.A. § 10:5-12q(3)(a).