On November 25, 2025, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act (“CROWN” Act). Effective January 24, 2026, Pennsylvania’s CROWN Act amends the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) to clarify that discrimination based on hair texture, hair type, and hairstyles historically associated with race or religious creed is prohibited. Pennsylvania is now the 28th state to enact CROWN Act protections and joins neighboring states New Jersey, Delaware and New York in enacting similar legislation.
Key Legal Changes
While the PHRA has long prohibited discrimination based on race and religious creed, the CROWN Act makes clear that:
- “Race” includes traits historically associated with race, such as natural hair texture and protective hairstyles, including locs, braids, twists, coils, Bantu knots, afros, and extensions; and
- Religious protections extend to head coverings and hairstyles historically associated with a person’s religious creed.
These protections reflect prior guidance by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), which already recognized that hair-related discrimination can be a form of racial discrimination.
What This Means for Employers
Employers may not treat applicants or employees differently because they wear natural or protective hairstyles, or religious hair coverings. Likewise, dress code and grooming policies cannot directly or indirectly prohibit protected hairstyles.
However, the law acknowledges that certain workplace rules may be necessary. Employers may adopt policies or practices that impact protected hairstyles or coverings only when the policy or practice is:
- Necessary to prevent an actual health or safety risk;
- Created for nondiscriminatory reasons;
- Narrowly tailored to the specific job or task; and
- Applied consistently to all employees in similar roles.
Employers should remember that, even when safety rules are permitted, employees still may be entitled to request a variance from the rules in the form of reasonable accommodation based on religious beliefs.
What Should Employers Do Next?
In response to this new law, employers should:
- Review and update dress code, appearance, and grooming policies before January 24, 2026;
- Confirm that safety-based rules meet the statute’s four-part test, described above;
- Update and reinforce harassment and discrimination training to include protections for race- and religion-related hairstyles, keeping in mind that pressuring employees to change their hair to meet customer preferences is prohibited and that supervisors’ motives, even well-intentioned ones, are not a defense if their conduct has a discriminatory impact; and
- Ensure that they have in place processes to effectively respond to employee accommodation requests;
Employers should consult with experienced human resources professionals and/or labor and employment counsel with any questions regarding pay equity and pay transparency laws. For all MEA members, the Hotline is available to provide this assistance. For MEA Essential and Premier members, a Member Legal Services attorney is available for additional consultation.
*This Alert is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
