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Religious Discrimation
Religious discrimination in employment is prohibited under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 – please return to the main page to see detailed guidance on these regulations. The Government’s Equality Bill extends the protection from religious discrimination to the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, housing, and advertising. The Bill also makes it unlawful for public authorities to discriminate in the exercise of their functions. Exceptions to the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief are made for faith schools and religious organisations.
The Race Relations Act 1976, which prohibits racial discrimination in the areas outlined above, already provides protection to some religious groups which are also racial groups. For example, court rulings have established that Jews and Sikhs are racial as well as religious groups. However, other religious groups such as Muslims are not protected because they are not racial groups. The Equality Bill means that all religious groups are now protected from discrimination in a similar way to racial groups. For more information on racial discrimination, please see Equality and the Law.
The Government's Equality Bill establishes the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) which will take over the functions of the existing equality commissions by 2009. The CEHR will have responsibility for promoting equality and tackling unlawful discrimination, including in the area of religion or belief.
