man advertisement and if he gets hired in a firm and does a good job this will open up another position for another Sabbath observer.

Let me just underscore that. I am again talking in New York City. I am aware incidently because we do consulting in just about all 48 states and I am aware of the situations there.

So I think my comments again are strictly for New York City.

Chair NORTON: But you say you do do consulting in virtually all the states, does that mean Sabbath observers in your firm are able to find the same reception in other states as you have found here?

Mr. BROWN: I would say no; they do not. As a matter of fact, we do encounter many problems once we start going out of New York City. Chair NORTON: But you are able to find work outside of New York City because of the demand then for the service?

Mr. BROWN: That's correct. And also you have to keep in mind that many people are willing to tolerate consultants which are only on a temporary basis as opposed to having to live with them, you know, 365 days a year.

Chair NORTON: I think that's an important point. Commissioners? I thank you three gentlemen for taking time from business to come here to present this very important testimony for our records.

I would like to call next Mr. Julius Berman, Vice-President of the Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

Mr. BERMAN: Good afternoon. My name is Julius Berman. I am an attorney and National Vice President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

The UOJCA is a lay organization which is the central coordinating body for more than 1,000 Orthodox Jewish Synagogues throughout the United States providing a broad range of services.

The Rabbinic arm of the UOJCA is the Rabbinical Council of America which represents over 1,000 members of the Orthodox Jewish Rabbinate.

My statement today is being submitted on behalf of the UOJCA and the RCA as well as the Synagogue Council of America.

The Synagogue Council is an umbrella agency for the congregational and rabbinic organizations representing Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism which includes four million Synagogue affiliated people.

In addition to the UOJCA and the RCA the members of the Synagogue Council are; the Central Conference of American Rabbis, representing the Reform Rabbinate; the Rabbinical Assembly, representing the Conservative Rabbinate; the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, representing the Reform congregations; and the United Synagogue of America, representing the Conservative congregations.

I have also been authorized to say that this statement has the approval and concurrence of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council which is composed of the following nine National organizations: the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; the United Synagogue of America; the Union of American Hebrew Congregations; American Jewish Committee; American Jewish Congress; Anti-defamation League of B'Nai Jewish Labor Committee; Jewish War Veterans of the United States; and the National Council of Jewish Women, as well as 101 local Jewish Community Councils across the country.

Jews are enjoined by biblical commands set forth, among other places, in Exodus and Deuteronomy, to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy and not to do any manner of work on that day.

Observance of the Sabbath is considered a fundamental tenent of Judaism to the extent that it is viewed as equal to the sum of all of the other commandments in Jewish law.

The Talmud states that he who profanes the Sabbath is treated as an idolator.

Prior to the development of the various protections for Sabbath observers in Federal, State and local laws, as well as administrative regulations, observant Jews were barred by employment policies from many positions open to other individuals in our society.

They were turned away from job after job and suffered economic hardship only because they steadfastly refused to violate the biblical injunction against working on the Sabbath.

Before such enactments Sabbath observers were free to practice their religion but this freedom often carried a severe penalty, inability to secure employment and loss of jobs when their Sabbath observance became known.

This is not to say that the key problem was that of intentional exclusion of the Sabbath observer from gainful employment.

Strictly speaking, a Sabbath observer who is denied employment because he refuses to work on Saturday or Friday evening is not being told that he cannot practice his religion.

However, if he practices his religion, the operation of an ostensibly neutral employment practice will make it difficult, if not impossible, for him to secure suitable employment.

Traditionally, employers refused to hire workers who were not able to work regular shifts which were either established by company practice or through union contracts.

Thus, observant Jews who were determined to follow religious conscience, ordinarily were excluded from the job market and forced to become small shop keepers or take semi-skilled or unskilled jobs.

Those who had professional training such as lawyers, accountants, engineers and the like, either set up their own businesses or practices or worked at small firms.

With changing employment and business patterns, notably the diminishing of unskilled and semi-skilled jobs and the consequent growth in white collar employment, observant Jews were confronted with a shrinking job market, resulting in the unemployment of large numbers of Sabbath observers.

It should be noted here that this problem arose out of the secularization of many of the practices of the majority faith. Those whose religion placed them in the majority in this country enjoyed certain prerogatives as employees simply because various aspects of the majority faith have over the years become so secularized.

Sunday laws and the celebration of Christmas are obvious examples of this development. Thus, in its purest sense, protection for Sabbath observers is in no way a grant of a privilege, but merely extends to minority religionists the same opportunities that our accepted mode of life automatically gives to those of the majority faiths.

We have long thought that the disadvantages imposed upon minorities by the secularization of these practices were wholly unnecessary and that all that was required to avoid them was a positive attitude on the part of employers and a determination to work with the employee to fashion reconciliation between the needs of the Sabbath observer and those of the employer.

Let me give some illustrative examples which demonstrate the feasibility of accommodating the needs of Sabbath observers.

The International Business Machines Corporation has adopted a corporate policy which is designated to insure that no one will be denied a job with IBM merely because of his religious observances.

As Mr. Don Whalen, IBM's program manager of employee benefits has explained to us, IBM's corporate policy is to hire qualified persons without regard to whether a prospective employee's religious beliefs and observances will require him to be absent from work on occasion. When an employee informs his supervisor that for religious reasons he will not be able to work on certain days, the supervisor will attempt to rearrange the employee's work schedule so as to permit him to work a full number of hours without having to report for work on the Sabbath or religious holidays.

If this is not possible, the employee is granted time off without pay and other workers are used, if necessary, to substitute for the absent employee.

This procedure is used for all personnel, blue and white collar alike. And Mr. Whalen has further pointed out that religious absences cannot

be used by a supervisor in his evaluation of an employee's performance. At least two Sabbath observers, Messrs. Ariel Perlman and Eugenio Schek are currently employed by IBM at its Poughkeepsie facility.

Further, Rabbi Morris Bekritsky of Congregation Shmrei Israel of Poughkeepsie, one of the UOJCA's member congregations, has informed us that he is personally acquainted with several other instances in which other Sabbath observing employees were accommodated without difficulty by IBM at its Poughkeepsie facility.

Dr. Morris Schatzkes, who has been employed by IBM for a number of years, also informs us that his religious observances are routinely accommodated by IBM without difficulty.

Similarly, and these are just a few samples obviously, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York employs several Sabbath observers in their computer department. For example, Mr. Norman Blaustein, an observant Jew, has worked at the bank for six years.

The bank has been able to accommodate the religious observances of such employees by assigning other workers to substitute for them on Sabbaths and holidays.

Miss Marilyn Chill is a Sabbath observant Jew employed by Consolidated Edison, and you have heard from them already today, New York's giant utility, as a computer programmer. Miss Chill reports that her employer was aware from the time she was hired of her Sabbath observance and has willingly accommodated her.

When necessary, another programmer substitutes for Miss Chill in her absence, and no difficulties have been encountered in this practice.

Of course, Sabbath observers are not seeking special privileges. Indeed, those who wish to be excused from work on the Sabbath and holidays are prepared to work after hours or on Sundays and public holidays to make up time lost due to religious observances.

The Sabbath observant Jews like all other Americans recognize their obligations and responsibilities as citizens of this great country.

Among these responsibilities is the duty of every citizen to contribute to society by seeking useful employment. At the same time, our Constitution guarantees to all citizens many important rights, including the right to observe one's chosen religion.

Our experience has shown that there is no inconsistency in theory or in practice between a citizen's obligation to contribute to society and his right to observe his religion.

It is our hope that these hearings will lead to the adoption of the necessary safeguards that will better enable our members to function as full and active members of American society without losing their own unique religious identity.

These guidelines should be designed to foster accommodation of the

religious needs of religious observers by encouraging flexibility and voluntary compliance on the part of employers and should discourage practices which lead to confrontation.

We believe that the findings of this Commission and the formal guidelines which it adopts pursuant to these hearings should address the following:

1.-The obligation to make lawful reasonable accommodation and its general feasibility must be re-emphasized and suggested areas of accommodation should be delineated.

These suggested areas should be clearly non-exclusive, but they should include (a) flexibility in scheduling; (b) use of make up time; (c) acceptance of voluntary switches with co-workers and cooperation of the employer in putting employees in contact with potential switching partners; (d) allowing time off without pay or use of vacation and personal leave time.

2. Pre-employment interviewers should not be permitted to ask questions of applicants which unnecessarily have the effect of eliciting their religious practices.

3.-Job applicants should be informed that, if they have scheduling requirements arising out of their religious practice, attempts will be made to accommodate these needs after the decision to hire them has been made.

4.-Applicants should be informed that they have no obligations to divulge their religious needs until that time.

5. The Commission should adopt a regulation making clear that job applicants have no obligation to divulge their religious needs in the pre-employment stage.

On behalf of the organizations on whose behalf I speak and those who join in my comments, I wish to thank the Commission for affording me the opportunity to present our views.

Now if I may, Commissioner Norton, that is the statement officially that I've been authorized to make and now I want to add something else. This is Julius Berman talking.

I've heard a lot about personal experience. I am in the fortunate stage of being able to sit here and tell you I've never been discriminated against on the basis of religion in occupation.

But I do want to add this point. When I graduated law school, which was quite awhile ago in 1960, and I had to go for employment. And I remember going to the firm I am a partner in right now, (name of firm) and they hired me; no problem. There was a slight discussion at the time: what happens if a trial goes on until late Friday; What happens if a favored client running to Florida Saturday morning, and he has to have his will because of his age, or what not. But somehow they took their