Catholic leader says employment law must not deter faith
The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has urged
his followers not to let employment law concerning religion in the
workplace diminish their demonstrations of faith.
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols said followers should use
simple gestures to make their faith more visible, despite a number
of cases in recent years that have seen practicing Christians fall
foul of employment law due to symbols or gestures of their
faith.
The Archbishop wrote his thoughts in a letter to all British
Catholics, in which he said people should not shy away from simple
gestures such as saying "God bless you", offering to pray for
people or making the Sign of the Cross.
"A small step we can all take is to be quicker to say to others
that we will pray for them, especially to those in distress," he
said.
"Even the simple step of more regularly using the greeting 'God
bless you', gently and naturally, would make a difference to the
tone we set in our daily lives as would the more frequent use of
the Sign of the Cross."
His words follow a number of controversial court cases stemming
from expressions of Christian beliefs being expressed in
workplace.
One case saw British Airways worker, Nadia Eweida, take her
employers to court on the grounds of religious discrimination,
after she was told to remove her crucifix necklace. Despite arguing
that women of other faiths were allowed to wear religious symbols,
the 56-year-old lost her claim at an employment tribunal.
Nick Soret, Head of consultancy support at Mentor comments:
"Vincent Nichols' comments highlight the problems employers face
in navigating the system of often conflicting workplace rights
people have today. In fact, religion and belief are expressly
protected by law and the Equality Act; due in force from 1st
October, only strengthens that protection. The circle employers
have to square every day is how to balance the competing rights of
those of different religions and of those who wish to be free from
religion altogether.