Religious Discrimination is unlawful under UK Legislation.
The Equality Act 2010 tells us unlawful discrimination arises if you are treated unfairly because of certain protected characteristics. Religion and belief is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.
This article will give an overview of the meaning of religion or belief as a protected characteristic, which covers a range of faiths, religions, and beliefs.
The main types of claims associated with religious discrimination are Direct Discrimination, Indirect Discrimination, and Harassment.
Religious Discrimination – What Is Religion
The protected characteristic of religion or belief includes any religion and any religious or philosophical belief. It also includes a lack of any such religion or belief.
It is unlawful to discriminate against an employee if they belong to an organised religion.
- Christianity
- Judaism
- Buddhism
- Sikhism
- Islam
- Hinduism
That also applies to specific denominations such as Orthodox or Protestantism.
It also applied to smaller organised religions such as Paganism or Scientology.
Example: You’re a Protestant. You would be protected against discrimination both because you’re a Christian and because you’re a Protestant. You would also be protected against discrimination because, for example, you’re not Jewish or Hindi.
A religion need not be well-known to gain protection as a religion. However, it must have a clear structure and belief system.
An employee is also protected if you do not share beliefs within that particular religion. For example, within Christianity, the belief is that Jesus is the Son of God.
Here are examples of religious beliefs:
- the belief of some Christians that you should wear a cross as a symbol of your faith
- the belief within Islam that a woman should cover her head or her whole body
- the belief within Islam that you should fast during Ramadan.
It is for the court/tribunal to decide what constitutes as a religion.
A religious belief must be all of the following:
- genuinely held
- more than an opinion or viewpoint based on current information
- about a “weighty and substantial” aspect of human life and behaviour
- it must have a certain level of clarity, seriousness and importance; and
- worthy of respect in a democratic society, not incompatible with human dignity and not in conflict with the fundamental rights of others.
Religious Discrimination – What Is A Belief?
A belief means any religious or philosophical belief and includes a lack of belief. Therefore, it is not just religious beliefs that are protected.
For example, a belief which is not a religious belief but may be a philosophical belief. Examples of philosophical beliefs include Atheism.
For a philosophical belief to be protected under the Act it must be:
- genuinely held
- more than an opinion or viewpoint based on current information
- about a “weighty and substantial” aspect of human life and behaviour
- it must have a certain level of clarity, seriousness and importance; and
- worthy of respect in a democratic society, not incompatible with human dignity and not in conflict with the fundamental rights of others.
Cases where the court has found that the test for a philosophical belief is not satisfied
- Vegetarianism
- A belief that individuals are entitled to own the copyright over their own creative works
- A belief that bisexuality does not exist
- A belief that a poppy should only be worn early in November.
It is important to note that religion and beliefs are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The belief would need to satisfy the test set out above.
It is for the court/tribunal to decide what constitutes a belief.
What if You Don’t Have A Religion?
You are also protected if you do not belong to an organised religion. So if you are non-Christian for example, you are protected.
It’s unlawful to discriminate against you because of the religion or beliefs of someone you’re with or someone you know. This could be a parent, child, partner or friend.
This is called discrimination by association.
Example: Your employer is hosting a work party and partners of employees are invited. An employee’s wife is Jewish and is refused entry, but the husband of another colleague who is Christian, is not. This is unlawful discrimination
It’s unlawful to discriminate against you because someone thinks you belong to a certain religion or hold a particular belief even though you don’t.
This is called discrimination by perception.
Example: Your employer refuses to allow you to go on a work trip because you wear a head scarf. Your employer thinks you are Muslim even though you are not, this is discrimination by perception.
Religion Or Belief – Manifestations
Other manifestations of religion and belief could include religious holidays, articles of clothing, diet, and avoiding certain practices.
Certain policies in the workplace may conflict with these manifestations and, unless they can be objectively justified, may amount to indirect discrimination.
Religious Discrimination – Compensation
If you have been discriminated against you may be entitled to compensation.