Bringing your religious beliefs to work – what are the limits?
Nadia Eweida’s success at the ECHR doesn’t mean that wearing religious symbols in the workplace is an automatic entitlement, says Cherie Booth QC
22 January 2013
Cherie Booth QC
The recent judgment by the European Court of Human Rights(ECHR)in Strasbourg, in which a British Airways employee overturned a ruling of the Court of Appeal (CoA), brings sharply into focus the issue of whether or not you have the right to manifest your religious beliefs at work.
Importantly, however, this was the only one of four cases where the European court disagreed with the stance adopted by the UK Courts. In the other three cases, the court’s rejection of the appeals give an insight into how the courts seek to strike a balance between the competing rights of individual workers, their colleagues, employers, clients and service users.
Contrary to some suggestions, the European judgment does not provide workers with an absolute right to wear religious dress or symbols in the workplace.
Employers are still entitled to impose uniform codes and restrictions, provided that their approach is ‘proportionate’ – in other words, strikes a fair balance between the rights of workers to manifest their religious beliefs at work, with the competing rights of others.
http://www.thelawyer.com/bringing-your-religious-beliefs-to-work-what-are-the-limits/1016582.article