Current position
Key legislation
Other relevant legislation
Exceptions
What employers must do
Implications
Issues
Shared learning
More information
Under the Regulations 2003, religion or belief is defined as being any religion, religious belief or similar philosophical belief. It is for employment tribunals to decide what constitutes a ‘belief’.
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 came into force in 2003. These regulations make it unlawful on the grounds of religion or belief to:
- Discriminate directly against anyone by treating them less favourably than others because of their religion or belief.
- Discriminate indirectly against anyone by applying a criterion, provision or practice which disadvantages people of a particular religion or belief unless it can be objectively justified.
- Subject someone to harassment by unwanted conduct that violates a person’s dignity and creates and intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating environment.
- Subject someone to victimisation by treating them less favourably for taking action or assisting someone else who has taken action.
In addition the Equality Act 2006 removed the requirement fro philosophical belief to be similar to religious belief and clarified that a lack of religion or belief was also protected. This act also prohibited discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods and services.
- Article 9 of the Human Rights Act 1998 – covers freedom of thought, conscious and religion as a qualified right. It states that a person can hold any religious belief and cannot be forced to change/follow or stop following their religion or belief. The act covers a broad definition of religion and also includes beliefs such as veganism and pacifism.
- Anti-terrorism, Crime & Security Act 2001 - covers religiously aggravated offences and harassment. Offences such as, assault, criminal damage, and harassment can be taken into account if there is a religious element.
- Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 - this covers offences involving stirring up hatred against persons on religious grounds.
There are two exceptions to the above legislation:
- Genuine occupational requirements - there are a small number of instances where it is lawful for an employer to treat individuals differently on the basis of belief, if having a particular religion or belief is a genuine occupational requirement for the post. This requirement has to be proven by the employer and must reflect the nature of the work.
- Positive action - selection for recruitment or promotion must be on merit, irrespective of religion or belief but it is possible to take steps to redress the effects of previous inequality of opportunity e.g. advertisements encouraging applications from a minority religion but making it clear that selection, will be on merit without reference to religion.
Although employers are not required to provide time and facilities for religious or belief observance in the workplace, they should consider whether their policies, rules and procedures indirectly discriminate against staff of particular religions or beliefs. If they do, they should also consider whether reasonable changes might be made.
The following are examples of areas where employers have taken steps to make reasonable changes:
- Break policy
- Flexible scheduling, eg. avoiding important religious festivals when interviewing
- Religious leave
- Responding to dietary needs
- Fasting
- Alcohol
- Prayer rooms
- Time off for prayer
- Uniforms/specific dress codes
- Dress codes and health and safety
- Jewellery
- Undressing/shower facilities
- Social Interaction, eg. acknowledging that some applicants will avoid eye contact for religious reasons and some may not wish to shake hands
- Monitoring of religious beliefs to identify the potential needs of staff
Possible areas or activities for organisations to consider when considering religion or belief issues in the workplace are:
- Develop staff awareness of belief systems and faith patterns in the UK
- Develop guidance on the equality provisions in the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, including direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment
- Profile your workforce to identify both risks and opportunities it creates; for example, applications for leave for religious festivals may create flexibility at other times
- Establishing boundaries beyond compliance allows an organisation to consider how far it would go to support employees in practicing their religion or belief; for example staff networks, quiet rooms etc
- Impact assess policies and practices in line with the relevant regulations to ensure they do not disadvantage particular religious groups or beliefs
- Promote a culture of respect through awareness training and how it contributes to the working of the organisation
- Decide if a request is reasonable or practical through engagement with the workforce and wider community (not all requests for adjustments will be)
- Address practical considerations e.g. food, holidays, dress, prayer etc through learning and development
- Develop a business case on the value of addressing religion or belief e.g. improving efficiency and avoiding claims
- Raise awareness with key stakeholders on how the organisation accommodates and values religious and belief in the workplace
The issue of religion or belief has been addressed in high profile court cases in particular dress codes, the clash between religious discrimination and sexual orientation, definition of religion or belief and ‘preaching’ in the workplace.
Cases involving employment and claims of religious discrimination in relation to dress codes have been lost (in the cases of Eweida V British Airways - the wearing of a crucifix - and Azmi V Kirklees MBC - the wearing of the niqab). The latest challenge of Sarika Watkins- Singh - a Sikh girl whose school’s uniform policy did not permit her to wear a Kara (bangle) - has been successful. In this instance, the school’s policy was found to have been indirectly discriminatory on grounds of both race and religion and not objectively justified under the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA) and the Equality Act (2006)
Other recent cases include:
- Ladele V London Borough of Islington (2009) - a registrar refused to officiate in civil partnerships on the grounds of her Christian beliefs. Although the individual’s direct and indirect religious discrimination claims succeeded initially, the employment tribunal said that this was not direct discrimination since the same requirements applied to all registrars.
- McFarlane v Relate Avon Ltd (2009) – an employee worked as a relationship counsellor and was not comfortable working with same-sex couples because their behaviour was contrary to his Christian beliefs. His claim – following his dismissal because he would not confirm that he would provide the same quality of service to them - failed because his role required him to provide same-sex couples with a satisfactory service.
- Chondol V Liverpool Council (2009) – a social worker had given a Bible to a client and asked another whether he believed in God and attended church. He was dismissed for failing to observe the council’s prohibition on the overt promotion of religious beliefs and the tribunal’s decision was upheld, because he was dismissed for improperly imposing his Christian beliefs on service users, not because of his religion.
‘Bare below the arm’ policy
Guidelines to tackle the spread of infections includes a ‘bare below the elbow’ dress code policy. Muslim doctors and students at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Trust, and elsewhere, objected to this because it is immodest in Islam to expose any part of the body except the face and hands. Dr Steve Ryan, medical director at Alder Hey, underlined that the trust had to implement ‘bare below the elbow’ for reasons of patient safety; with no exceptions but worked with Muslim students to find a solution. The hospital now provides facilities for female Muslim students to change their outerwear and hijab for theatre scrubs.
Multi-faith rooms
5 Borough Partnership has a quiet room with Multi-faith resources to cater for staff and service users who practise minority faiths. The resources have also proved useful for those wanting to expand their knowledge of other faiths. The trust has also developed a guide that outlines briefly the dietary preferences of the main religious groups represented locally.
Building staff understanding to reduce missed appointments
Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust analysed their ‘missed appointments’ statistics and found that many patients were missing appointments on religious holidays. They distributed a multi-faith calendar to staff to enable them to take religious holidays into account, when planning patients’ treatment.