Beware headlines suggesting that the banning of visible religious dress in the work place is something to be undertaken without thought or concern.
It is true that the European Court of Justice has given Judgment in a Belgium case confirming that the banning of the wearing of an Islamic headscarf of a Muslim employee did not amount to direct discrimination as the ban on religious dress applied equally to all religions. However, the case did not deal with the important question of indirect discrimination and the court indicated that such a dress code rule was capable of amounting to indirect discrimination. In order to have a successful defence to indirect discrimination the particular dress code would have to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. That would be for a national court to determine.
It is also telling that the ECJ gave a separate Judgment on the same day in another headscarf ban case confirming that the ban did constitute direct discrimination because it was imposed in response to a customer’s objection rather than being based on an employer’s policy always read the small print.
For further information please contact Holly Dobson on 0114 224 2121 or at [email protected]
