As an employer, are there any issues regarding religion or belief that I should be careful of?

The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations came into force on 2nd December 2003. 

It is now unlawful to discriminate directly or indirectly against workers or subject someone to harassment because of their religion or similar belief.

The Regulations apply to all areas of employment including terms and conditions of employment, promotion, transfers of employment, training and recruitment and also to any provision or practice, which indirectly disadvantages people of a particular religion or belief, unless it can be objectively justified. 

There are limited exceptions if there is a genuine occupational requirement for a worker to be of a particular religion or belief in order to do the job.

Religion or belief is defined as being any religion, religious belief or similar philosophical belief.  This extends beyond the better-known religions and faiths, to include beliefs such as paganism and humanism. 

A key employment law issue for employers is that of religious holidays.

Refusing to allow time off for religious holidays constitutes indirect discrimination. It is only permissible to refuse such time off if the rule can be objectively justified.

Such requests should, where possible, be accommodated. However, it may be reasonable to refuse if a significant proportion of the have workforce requested the same day off thus affecting operational requirements.

For further information on the above or any employment law matters please call ELAS on 0161 785 2000