UK: employer can ban the wearing of cross

Remove all ads!

Hasn't that essentially already happened? Last I checked only two of Ten Commandments are also illegal.

 

IMHO, any religious symbol that does not interfere with the performance of a job is none of the employer's damn business. This means that necklaces with crosses, stars, crescents or dagger replicas should never be an issue unless employees are working with spinning machines. The same goes for rings. Headdresses, ditto, unless special headgear needs to be worn.

Face coverings, that's a different story. In Western culture, we expect to see the face of the person we are talking to. A business that doesn't have staff adhering to this norm will likely lose business, and thus an alternative must be found.

Weapons (the dagger of many Sikhs) are a different story as well, though to my knowledge over the past 3 decades Canada has not had an incident of a Sikh drawing in anger.

Piercings (though I am unaware of any religion with much presence in the West that requires such) may pose a sanitary hazard, but that's more likely a matter of perception than scientific fact. That's DEFINITELY true of tattoos. However, if a company is losing business because their clientele is creeped out by the staff, what is the company to do? You can't lecture your sustomers on tolerance, they'll just go elsewhere. When revenues go down, management will find out why and address the problem, legality be darned.

But if I were to want to wear a Moroni necklace under my shirt or a CTR ring, or a regularly sized belt buckle with some logo on it, then I don't see what harm that would do to anyone.