Accommodating Religious Holidays

To comply with the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, employers need to exercise flexibility when responding to annual leave requests for religious festivals and holidays.

Under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, it is unlawful to discriminate against workers because of ‘any religion, or religious or philosophical belief’ which extends to lack of religion or lack of belief.

The legislation applies to workers at all stages of the employment process from recruitment to dismissal, and protects them against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Therefore, these regulations need to be recognised as part of a company’s equal opportunity policy and working practices. The term ‘workers’ refers to past, present and prospective employees, contractors, self employed workers, apprentices, and partners.

Accommodating Religious Observance:

 An organisation must not have selection criteria, policies, employment rules or other practices which disadvantage people of a particular religion or belief, unless the employer can evidence that there is a legitimate aim (i.e. a real business need), and that the practice is necessary as there is no alternative means available. Therefore, employers should carefully consider employment procedures and decision making to ensure that they accommodate religious observance wherever reasonably practical. As well as approving holiday entitlement for religious holidays, the adjustments could include working days and hours, canteen and food storage facilities, changing and washing facilities, dress codes, access to a quiet place for prayer, and training and social events.

A failure to accommodate religious observance wherever reasonably practical could constitute unlawful indirect discrimination.

Religious Holidays:

The case of Mohammad Khan V NIC Hygiene 2005 identified that a refusal to permit an employee to take time off work for religious reasons may be discriminatory, even if the refusal is made in accordance with normal procedures.
Khan took six weeks off work to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca; his employer dismissed him on the grounds of misconduct due to unauthorised absence. The tribunal ruled that Khan was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on religious grounds.

A refusal to approve annual leave entitlement for religious festivals and holidays may be discriminatory if it cannot be justified with a legitimate business need which cannot be met by any other reasonable means.

An employer should establish a fair system for granting leave that meets the needs of the business, and does not put the employees of any particular religion or belief (or those who do not hold any religious beliefs) at a disadvantage. In addition, the employer should communicate the procedures to staff in terms of requesting the leave and how much reasonable notice is required to ensure that the request is fair to both their employer and their colleagues.

Employer Checklist:

• Review and update your equal opportunities policy in line with any updates to the employment equality regulations.
• Communicate your equal opportunities policy to all employees to promote equality and diversity in the workplace.
• Train line managers to ensure that they are aware of the regulations and apply them to people management.
• Re-examine employment criteria and processes to ensure that they do not indirectly discriminate on the grounds of religion or belief.
• Consider all requests for leave on the grounds of religion or belief carefully; remember a refusal can only be justified with a legitimate and unavoidable business need.
• Exercise flexibility wherever possible on employee holiday requests so that an employee may attend religious holidays and festivals.
• Encourage communication and openness amongst management and employees to discuss concerns and make decisions.