Religious discrimination meaning

In this issue: Social housing Education Planning Local government finance Public procurement Governance Healthcare Social care Licensing Environmental law and climate change LexTalk®Local Government: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Social housing Local authority successful in Court of Appeal on suitability of accommodation offered in performance of prevention duty (Fatolahzadeh v LB of Barnet) Fatolahzadeh v LB of Barnet saw Genevieve Screeche-Powell represent the council, which prevailed in resisting a Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996), section 204 appeal pursued by a homeless applicant. Two central issues of principle arose: (i) whether Parliament intended that an alleged non-compliance with the ‘new’ HA 1996, s 189A duties should automatically vitiate any later decision taken to meet the duty to secure suitable accommodation; and (ii) the extent to which the section 202 review procedure can rectify asserted shortcomings. This marks the first occasion on which the Court...

Omooba v (1) Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (ta Global Artists) (2) Leicester Theatre Ltd [2024] EAT 30 In Omooba v (1) Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (ta Global Artists) (2) Leicester Theatre Ltd [2024] EAT 30, Employment Appeal Judge Jennifer Eady decided the lower tribunal had been correct to reject Seyi Omooba’s complaint of religious discrimination after Leicester’s Curve Theatre and the talent agency Global Artists removed the actor from the part of Celie, a lesbian character, following controversy about a 2014 Facebook post stating that homosexuality is a sin. Eady J confirmed the tribunal’s view that the theatre did not act because of her beliefs. Instead, she found the decision was driven by apprehension about the consequences of the media backlash for the theatre’s finances and the agency’s survival...

In this issue: Employment Rights Act 2025 Status and worker categories Policies, handbooks and other documents Protected characteristics Whistleblowing Unfair dismissal Civil courts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® LexTalk®Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Employment Rights Act 2025 DBT backtracks on publication of revised Codes of Practice for picketing and industrial action ballots The Department of Business and Trade (DBT) has amended its webpages covering the updated draft Codes of Practice on Picketing and on industrial action ballots and employer notice, stating that the revised codes will no longer commence on 18 February 2026. DBT indicates the drafts, being reworked to reflect changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), are still undergoing revision. Accordingly, the current iterations of both codes will continue to apply until any amendments formally take effect. The existing guidance therefore remains operative...

An employer may choose to set a dress policy for several reasons, including: presenting a polished, professional look that reflects the organisation’s brand; requiring a uniform; and/or complying with health and safety obligations Employers have considerable freedom in framing a dress policy, but in reality that latitude is tempered by: the need to apply comparable standards to all staff and to base them on a genuine business need, to minimise the risk of successful discrimination claims; and broader employee relations considerations, since the employer will want a policy that is broadly acceptable to most employees This Practice Note examines: relevant statutory and non-statutory guidance on dress codes the discrimination risks and practical considerations that can arise in relation to a dress code specific aspects of attire an employer may wish to include in a dress policy how to implement and enforce a dress code This Practice...

This Practice Note explores how ‘religion’ and ‘belief’ are defined for the purpose of the protected characteristic of religion or belief in relation to religious discrimination and other prohibited conduct under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010), and sets out the criteria for a religious or a philosophical belief to receive protection... Protected characteristics EqA 2010 protects against discrimination connected to specified characteristics that individuals may hold. Certain protections apply solely to one such characteristic, while others operate uniformly across all of them, collectively known as ‘the protected characteristics’. With the exception of pregnancy and maternity, each protected characteristic is identified and defined in EqA 2010. For an overview of protected characteristics generally, see: Protected characteristics—overview. This Practice Note focuses on the protected characteristic of religion or belief... Definition of religion or belief Under EqA 2010, ‘religion’ means any religion and also includes the absence of religion. ‘Belief’ covers any religious or philosophical belief, and likewise extends to a lack of belief...

This Practice Note outlines examples of employment discrimination judgments based on the protected characteristic of philosophical belief, centring on gender-critical and/or gender identity beliefs. The decisions are arranged in approximate chronological order. For additional detail on the protected characteristic of religious or philosophical belief, see Practice Note: Religion or belief. Forstater v CGD Europe In Forstater, the claimant, a researcher and writer, engaged with the respondents through consultancy agreements. She posted tweets about proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA 2004) that would allow individuals to self-identify their gender. Some members of staff at the respondents raised objections, describing the tweets as transphobic. When her consultancy engagements were not extended, Ms Forstater maintained that this was due to the gender-critical views she had expressed. She brought employment tribunal claims alleging direct discrimination on the basis of a philosophical belief, together with indirect sex discrimination. In 2019, the London Central Employment Tribunal initially concluded that the specific belief that a person’s ‘sex’ is a material reality which...