International Journal of Discrimination and the Law

Running head: EMPLOMENT LAW
RELIGIOUS BELIEF
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

EMPLOMENT LAW1
Introduction
Numerous researchers, authors and philanthropists are of the view that religious
discrimination is very hard to prove if takes place anywhere because it is inherently connected to
ethnic, racial and cultural discrimination. If the pages of history are turned over, it can be
observed that discrimination on the ground of religion is a very old practice which was started
during World War II in Jewish society. Apart from that, cultural discrimination concerning anti-
Muslim bias and even clash relating to the political association between Catholics and
Protestants in Northern Ireland has also been observed1. This paper mainly focuses on the
discussion of how the concept of religious belief is protected under the Equality Act, 2010
Discussion
Religious belief refers to mythological, supernatural or philosophical behaviours of a
faith. Religious beliefs play a social role in communities of people, offering a shared sense about
where human beings come from and where people go after death. Religious beliefs are different
from religious practices and religious behaviour, where some individuals do not believe in
religion and some individuals do not believe in practising religion.
For the Equality Act of 2010 (EA), religion and faith are regarded to be as a protected
attribute in compliance with section 10. According to section 10 of the above-mentioned Act2:
1) Religion means any religion and there is a connection to a lack of religion;
2) Belief means any religious faith or ideology and there is also a connection to a lack of
faith;
1 Donald, Alice, and Erica Howard. "The right to freedom of religion or belief and its intersection with other rights."
(2015).
2 Equality Act, 2010

EMPLOMENT LAW2
3) In connection to the proceed features of religion or faith-
i) A reference to a person having a specific security feature about an individual with a
specific religion or faith;
ii) Any individual sharing a protected feature shall be referred to as individuals of the
same faith or faith.
As per the aforesaid Act3 nobody can discriminate a person on the ground of religion or
religious belief. This kind of discrimination takes place either in school, college or workplace but
it is a fact that this kind of discrimination is most complicated among all other discrimination.
Discrimination on the ground of religion is considered to be as indirect discrimination. However,
in the UK, discrimination mainly observed in the workplace4.
Many researchers are of the view that the main problem in proving discrimination on the
ground of religious belief is that if somebody wants to prove indirect discrimination that person
must prove a disadvantage faced by a particular group. For this reason in Eweida vs. United
Kingdom5 case, Eweida struggled and failed in the English courts to demonstrate that she was
discriminated for wearing a cross because it is contrary to the dress code policy of British
Airways. The court held that as she was the only Christian to complain about the dress code
policy of the British Airways the meaning of it was that it was not an indirect prejudice, but
personal faith. Nevertheless, she ultimately won her case in the European Court of Human Rights
(ECtHR).
3 Equality Act, 2010
4 Vickers, Lucy. Religious freedom, religious discrimination and the workplace. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016).
5 Eweida vs. United Kingdom [2013] ECHR 37