EHRC calls for change to laws on religion and belief at work

Employment Law & HR update 14/07/2011

According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the law regarding belief or religion discrimination claims in the workplace is 'too narrow.'

Speaking as part of its application to intervene in current cases at the European Court of Human Rights, the EHRC has said that judges have interpreted the law too narrowly.

Some of the cases include a woman who refused to remove her cross necklace at work and a registrar who refused to perform civil partnerships due to her religious beliefs.

The ways in which such human rights and equality laws have been interpreted does not provide freedom of belief or religion, says the EHRC.

The body has called for clearer principles to enable courts to consider what is and what is not justifiable in religion or belief cases. This would give employers a clearer idea about how they can protect employees from discrimination based on their religion or beliefs.

Group Director of Legal at the EHRC, John Wadham, said, “Our intervention in these cases would encourage judges to interpret the law more broadly and more clearly to the benefit of people who are religious and those who are not.

“The idea of making reasonable adjustments to accommodate a person’s needs has served disability discrimination law well for decades. It seems reasonable that a similar concept could be adopted to allow someone to manifest their religious beliefs,” he added.