So far, only a few cases have been brought under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, which came into force in December 2003.
One of the major drawbacks of the legislation is that it does not define “philosophical belief” and case law has been slow to develop and define whether a belief is capable of protection.
Membership of the BNP has been held not to be a belief, as has patriotism.
On the other hand, in Greater Manchester Police v Power, spiritualism was held to be a belief capable of protection, as was belief in climate change in Grainger v Nicholson.  Mr Nicholson, Head of Sustainability at Grainger, held strong beliefs about climate change and claimed that Grainger would not provide him with information required to develop a carbon management strategy, preventing him from doing his job. When he was made redundant, he alleged that he had been discriminated against on the grounds of his beliefs and won his case.
This is a worrying judgment for employers who may now be concerned that they could be exposed to discrimination claims from adherents to every philosophical belief going.
Another issue for employers is managing competing beliefs in the workplace, although two recent cases suggest a reluctance to undermine the position of an employer’s legitimate practices.

• in Ladele v London Borough of Islington, Ms Ladele, a practising Christian, refused to conduct civil partnership services and was dismissed. The Court of Appeal held it was part of her job to carry out the duties of a registrar and she was failing in those duties, so her employer was therefore entitled to dismiss her.
• similarly, in McFarlane v Relate Avon,  the Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed a claim by Mr McFarlane, a Christian counsellor, who refused to provide sex therapy to same sex couples.

This is a complex and rapidly changing area of law which provides one more opportunity for employees to make a potential claim against their employer.  Consequently employers cannot afford to ignore it. 
It has a far-reaching ambit and will influence the way employers should deal with many aspects of the workforce from dress codes, leave for religious holidays, flexible working schedules, social and training events, compassionate leave.
Employers need to ensure that equality policies in the workplace have teeth if they are to be protected from this newest wave of litigation.
For further information please email John King or call 01925 230000.

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.