What constitutes religion or belief?

In Baggs v Fudge (ET case 1400114/05) the tribunal decided that a job applicant who, as an active member of the BNP, was not interviewed for a job did not suffer discrimination on grounds of religion or belief.

However, this case was decided before the removal of the requirement for philosophical beliefs to be ‘similar’ to religious beliefs. Since this change to the regulations, it remains to be seen whether the broader definition might cover political beliefs such as those espoused by the BNP. The possibility of such a challenge might be of some significance since the Court of Appeal ruled in Redfearn v Serco ([2006] EWCA Civ 659) that the dismissal of a BNP councilor did not constitute discrimination ‘on racial grounds’.

Williams v South Central Ltd (ET case 2306989/03) also assists in deciding what values constitute a religion; the tribunal rejected Williams’ claim that his loyalty as a US citizen required him to wear a badge of the US flag and that this amounted to a religious belief.

The tribunal in Hussain v BB Supersave (ET case 1806638/04) had to examine the boundary between religious beliefs themselves and the cultural practices associated with a religion: Hussain, a Muslim, had requested time off work to fulfil duties following the death of his grandmother. The tribunal decided to adopt a broad definition of religion: to avoid ‘unnecessary complications and endless debate’ it was held that if someone genuinely believes that their faith requires certain behaviour this is sufficient to make it part of their religion. His claim failed only because he was unable to show that his employer would have treated a non-Muslim any differently.

The question of perceived religious belief was examined in Mayet v HM Customs and Excise (ET case 2301870/04): Mayet claimed that his manager’s opposition to his promotion was because he thought he was a Muslim. The tribunal was persuaded that the manager did indeed believe Mayet to be a Muslim, but decided that his lack of support for his promotion related to concerns over his suitability, not his perceived religion.

EFB comment
Employers should be particularly careful not to make superficial judgments, especially where the traditions and practices of a religion may be unfamiliar to them.