the business of faith

clear thinking about religion and belief in the workplace

St Ethelburga's Centre
78 Bishopsgate
London EC2N 4AG
Tel: 020 7496 1610
Fax: 020 7638 1440
info@thebusinessoffaith.org

Rights and Responsibilities

Equal opportunities legislation now protects employees from discrimination on the grounds of:

sex
race
disability
sexual orientation
religion or belief.

Legislation to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of age is due to come into effect in 2006.

For further information, please see Equality & The Law.

Religion and the Law

The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations came into force in December 2003. These regulations cover employment and vocational training, and prohibit discrimination against workers because of their religious or similar belief.

Please see below for detailed guidance on the regulations:

The Employment Equality (religion or belief) Regulations

The practical guidance Religion or belief and the workplace: a guide for employers and employees is an Acas publication, available at http://www.acas.org.uk/publications/pdf/religion.pdf

Religion or belief and the workplace: a guide for employers and employees

Contents
Introduction		2
Summary of the regulations		3
What do the Regulations mean?		4
1.1	Definition of religion or belief	4
1.2	Direct discrimination, plus example	4
1.3	Indirect discrimination, plus examples	5
1.4	Harassment, plus examples	6
1.5	Victimisation, plus examples	8
1.6	Genuine occupational requirement, plus example	9
1.7	Positive action	10
	The business case for putting the regulations into practice	11
Recruitment		12
2.1	Diversity	12
2.2	Advertising, plus example	12
2.3	Skills and aptitudes	12
2.4	Unnecessary selection criteria	12
2.5	Clarity about post	12
2.6	Flexibility, plus example	13
2.7	Genuine occupational requirement	13
2.8	Individual needs	13
2.9	Interview, plus example	13
2.10	Equality Policy	14
2.11	Sunday working	14
Retaining good staff		15
3.1	Fair promotion and training	15
3.2	Informal references	15
3.3	Delivering training, plus some things to consider	15
3.4	Individual needs	15
3.5	Training on harassment and discrimination	16
3.6	Personal liability for harassment, plus example	16
3.7	Procedure for complaints, plus example	16
Religious observance in the workplace		18
4.1	Reasonable changes	18
4.2	Holiday for festivals or spiritual observance	18
	Some things to consider	18
	Holiday for festivals: Example	19
4.3	Holiday systems and periods of closure	19
4.4	Handling requests for leave	19
4.5	Dietary requirements, plus example	19
4.6	Prayer rooms	20
4.7	Reasonable and practical changes	20
4.8	Communal shower/changing facilities	21
4.9	Fasting	21
4.10	Dress codes, plus example	21
4.11	Jewellery and body markings, plus example	21
Know your staff		23
5.1	Monitoring	23
5.2	Asking for sensitive information	23
5.3	Monitoring harassment and discrimination	23
5.4	Flexibility	23
What to do if you have suffered discrimination or harassment		24
6.1	Challenging unwelcome behaviour	24
6.2	Making a complaint	24
6.3	First steps	24
6.4	Grievance procedure	25
6.5	Right of appeal	25
6.6	Complaint to an employment tribunal	25
6.7	Victimisation	25
6.8	Unfair dismissal	25
6.9	Three month point	25

Frequently asked questions		26
Q	Do organisations have to do anything new or different when the legislation comes in?	26
Q	Must organisations have an Equality Policy?	27
Q	Do the Regulations cover all religions and beliefs?	27
Q	Do these regulations cover all workers?	27
Q	Do organisations have to ask about someone’s religion or belief at interview?	28
Q	Do organisations have to collect data on religion or belief?	29
Q	How will organisations know if they are discriminating inadvertently?	29
Q	No-one in my organisation has ever complained of discrimination or harassment so we don’t need to do anything, do we?	30
Q	Should we ban discussion about religion and belief in the workplace? We are concerned that someone might complain about harassment.	31
Q	Do organisations have to provide a prayer room?	31
Q	Do organisations have to release staff for prayer outside normal rest/break periods or religious festivals?	32
Q	My organisation has rules on personal appearance and dress. Are we in breach of the legislation?	33
Q	I am concerned that, on the grounds of religion, some of my staff may refuse to work with their gay or lesbian colleagues.	33
Q	Our organisation has a religious ethos. How do we determine if a person’s religion or belief can be justified as a genuine occupational requirement for a post?	34
Appendix 1		35
Genuine Occupational Requirements Guidance
Appendix 2		37
Guidance on commonly practised religions
Reminder: The Working Time Regulations 1998		38
	Baha’I	39
	Buddhism	40
	Christianity	41
	Hinduism	42
	Islam (Muslims)	43
	Jainism	44
	Judaism (Jews)	45
	Other Ancient Religions	46
	Rastafarianism	47
	Sikhism	48
	Zoroastrians (Parsi)	49