Commission guidance on religious belief
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued new guidance on religion or belief as a result of the European Court of Human Right’s judgments in four combined cases about religious rights in the workplace (see Fact Service, issue 2).
The cases were brought by four Christians, with only one case successful, but the implications of the judgment apply to employees with any religion or belief, or none. The judgment affects employer responsibilities for policies and practices protecting religion or belief rights in the workplace, the rights of employees (including job applicants) and the rights of customers.
The judgments may be referred to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights and could be upheld, overturned or modified. In the meantime, the EHRC recommends employers should use the new guidance that includes a selection of examples of requests and how employers might deal with them.