A new report published by the think tank Respublica has called for the law to be amended to require employers to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees, even if that results in discrimination against others. However, the British Humanist Association (BHA) has rejected the suggestion as privileging the rights of religious people to discriminate over those of others.
The report highlights a series of cases, such as that of the Christian B&B owners who weren’t allowed to refuse accommodation to a same-sex couple, and that of the Christian registrar who wasn’t allowed to refuse to perform civil partnership ceremonies, all litigated under the Human Rights Act 1998, and uses them to argue that the Act has led to an ‘encroachment on religious liberty’. The report argues that the law should be changed, through the upcoming Bill of Rights, so that instead of making discrimination unlawful, instead there should be a duty on employers to ‘reasonably accommodate’ religious employees, where their beliefs clash with their ability to perform their jobs.
Paradoxically, at the same time, Conservative Christian Fellowship Patron Fiona Bruce MP has commented, in Prime Minister’s Questions, that ‘the legal rights of freedom of religion and freedom of speech to speak about one’s faith responsibly, respectfully and without fear are as strong today as ever’.
BHA Director of Public Affairs Pavan Dhaliwal commented, ‘The law, as it stands, provides equal protection to all employees and service users against discrimination on account of the beliefs of others. Just as Christians can’t refuse a gay couple accommodation in a public hotel, so a gay couple couldn’t do the same to Christians. Equally, the law prevents employers from discriminating against employees on account of their belief, where it is possible to accommodate those beliefs without disadvantaging or discriminating against others.
‘What calls in this context for “reasonable accommodation” actually amount to are calls for the only valid stop on an employee’s ability to discriminate being cost – even if this disadvantages their colleagues or their customers. Such a change in law would privilege some people’s religious beliefs over the rights of LGBT people, women, and those of different religions and beliefs. The law, as it stands, has the balance right.’
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For media inquiries, please contact: Sarah Gillam, Director of Communications and Development, on 020 7324 3060 or 020 3675 0959 or email sarah@humanists.uk.
Read more about the BHA’s campaigns work around conscientious objection: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/human-rights-and-equality/conscientious-objection/
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethically and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.