On August 15, 2019, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the U.S. Department of Labor published a proposed rule that seeks to significantly expand the number of federal contractors eligible for a religious exemption, including contractors far beyond those that courts have previously ruled qualify as a “religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society.”1 Such a change would make millions of U.S. workers vulnerable to discrimination for not sharing their employers’ religious beliefs.2
This issue brief examines how the Trump administration’s proposed rule would weaken nondiscrimination protections available under executive order (EO) 13672. The brief begins by providing background information on the EO and exploring how the proposed rule would undermine it. It then explains why any loss of nondiscrimination protections disproportionately harms LGBTQ workers. Finally, the brief’s authors analyzed publicly available federal contracting data and found no evidence that EO 13672 has excluded faith-based organizations from contracting with the federal government. Continue reading “The Nondiscrimination Protections of Millions of Workers Are Under Threat”