I have just interviewed an applicant for a role within our company. His religion is Muslim and he made a request to have somewhere on site to pray once a day for 10 minutes and on Fridays he has asked to be allowed to go to a Mosque.
The 10 minutes each day, we do not have a problem with; he can be given access to somewhere private. Going to the Mosque each Friday will involve him being off site for about 2 hours as the ‘local mosque’ is a 30 minute drive each way. We are worried about setting a precedent, so have told him it will be difficult and will have to think about it. His potential line manager is very keen on his skills but is finding it hard to accept that people have religious beliefs that impact on work time.
Peter replies:
Have you considered allowing him to start work earlier/finish later and having a shorter lunch break to bank enough time off to allow him to be out of the workplace for Friday prayers? If the work itself is flexible does it really matter, provided the employee is getting his work done? If you are flexible with your employees then most employees will return that flexibility in spades.
You do not have to accept and agree to it, but you need to be very clear as to why you cannot. You should have a time off for religious observance policy that determines your approach.
Employees may seek time off for prayers. However there is no express right to take time off in these circumstances and employers are not required to grant all requests for time off for religious observance. If you do refuse to grant time off and this refusal is because of an employee’s religion, you run the risk of liability for direct discrimination.
You could also risk indirect discrimination by having rules that are particularly disadvantageous to members of a particular religion, and which are not objectively justifiable. What is key is, how difficult would it be for you to allow him the extra time on Friday lunchtimes?
Employers are expected to work with employees to make it possible for them to practice their religion. However, you are not required to offer this accommodation if:
- it would cause a hardship on your business, or other workers.
The ACAS Guidance gives the example of a small finance company which requires analysis of the American finance market late on Friday afternoons, which causes problems for Jewish employees. The figures need to be worked on immediately and the business is too small to have someone else do the job. The requirement to work on Friday afternoon is therefore not unlawful because it meets a legitimate business objective and there is no alternative means of doing it.
The Employers Forum on Belief recommends that employers should not be afraid to say yes or no to requests, but should always look twice at a problem. You should focus on finding a workable solution that does not adversely impact on his colleagues, and allows you recruit a valuable employee who is likely to be loyal to you because of your willingness to be flexible to meet his religious needs.
The guidance provided in this article is just that – guidance. Before taking any action make sure that you know what you are doing, or call us for specific advice.
