Sharing stories; learning from others
Dilemma of the Month
Q:What do we do if some of our Muslim employees want a prayer room specifically for Muslims? They also want separate rooms for men and women, and are concerned about cleaners from a different faith entering the room.
What the employer did:
A: In this case there was not enough space for the employer to offer another room, so the organisation has enabled individuals to arrange their working time (subject to meeting the core requirements of the business) to enable them to go and visit a nearby mosque.
The following challenges and questions have been brought to the EFB over a number of years. Here we explore good practice, outline how an employer might or did respond and provide our perspective on the best way to deal with the issue.
There is no definitive answer to any of the following queries.
Organisations will differ on what is the right response for them. Some employers may opt to take a pragmatic approach to religion, belief and non-belief issues and will still be acting lawfully and fairly towards their employees. Others may opt to go over and above what is required in order to differentiate their employer proposition by actively encouraging employees to pursue their own religion, belief or non-belief. Both approaches are consistent with good practice on this agenda and the legal requirement not to discriminate on grounds of religion or belief.
If you have a story or question you want to share, tell us about it and how you dealt with it click here.
Want to comment on any of our suggestions? Have your say. What do you think the employer should do/have done?
Please submit your answers to the EFB editorial team and we will include any comments/suggestions that other employers might find useful.
We cannot guarantee to answer all queries.
- Celebrating Religious Festivals
- Conflict with other Equality Issues
- Communication Campaigns
- Customer Preference
- Employee Mobility
- Food and Drink
- Holidays
- Monitoring
- Prayer/Quiet Rooms
- Religious Education/Training at work
- Rewards and Benefits
- Security
- Selling Products and Services
- Uniform
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