Religious appearance or dress
Everyone is entitled to equal access to work and equal treatment at work, regardless of whether they choose to wear dress or adornments that symbolize their religion.
It is generally against the law for an employer to ask a person not to wear their religious attire at work, unless it creates a safety risk. For example:
| Tina works in a takeaway food restaurant with a strict ‘no jewellery’ policy. Tina is a Christian and decided to wear her gold cross necklace anyway. Tina’s team leader noticed the cross and told Tina she should check the policy and not wear it again. Tina talked to her team leader about why the necklace was important and about the law. Tina was allowed to wear her necklace and the restaurant also reviewed its ‘no jewellery’ policy. |
It’s different if the religious dress creates a health or safety hazard. Here’s an example.
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Angad is Sikh and has a beard as an expression of his faith. He works as an apprentice chef in a small restaurant where the rule is that men must be clean shaven so that hair cannot get into food. The boss told Angad that he would have to shave off his beard. Angad knew someone who also worked in a restaurant kitchen who said the restaurant could get ‘beard nets’ for food handling - similar to hair nets. Angad told his boss about it and asked if the business could purchase beard nets so that he could maintain his religious appearance. |
Also, if religious dress covers the face, but the employer needs to identify the wearer, they can ask them to show their face.
Last updated on Tue, 08/24/2010 - 13:28.
