Why we should be aware of religious discrimination in the workplace

I've been researching religious discrimination, expression and accommodation in workplaces for a number of years. The relationship between religious beliefs and the workplace have been a key theme in social scientific research since Max Weber published The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in the early 20th century, but people appear nervous when they learn of my research interest.

Pearn Kandola recently reported that almost half of the believers they surveyed in the UK or US felt uneasy discussing the religious festivals they observe while at work. I feel this discomfort stems from personal, social and cultural reasons. Religious belief is deeply personal for most people, and as William James pointed out in The Varieties of Religious Experience over 120 years ago, is often subject to change throughout our lives.

On a social level, religion is defined in a multitude of ways. Some religious people have, and continue to, use their membership of churches and groups to discriminate against, condemn and exclude others in ways that have little scriptural or theological bases. Even mentioning religion can unearth painful memories of abuse and hurt for many people.

On the other hand, people of faith have often been at the forefront for movements of political and social change. Johnny Cash, Sinead O'Connor and Nick Cave described their attachment to faith as one based on the human process of dealing with uncertainty, loss and pain. Culturally, religion constantly evolves and when one dominant tradition goes into decline, as appears to be the case in Ireland at the moment, the forms of religious practices and beliefs change rather than disappearing.

Defining religion is challenging and, for many people, understanding if they identify as religious or not can add an additional layer of complexity! Religion is one of nine 'protected grounds’ in Ireland’s Employment Equality Acts (1998-2015), and the most recent annual report of the Workplace Relations Commission reported 65 referrals on the grounds of religion. Although this is a comparatively small number when compared to most of the other grounds, it is the highest number reported in all available reports; a substantial increase from the 19 reported in 2020.

This data refers only to workplace disputes between employees, managers and employers and does not represent the fullest extent to which workers have experienced religious discrimination from co-workers, customers or managers. An RTÉ Brainstorm piece published earlier this year reported that one of the migrant worker groups who experienced high levels of workplace discrimination were 'those whose religion is categorised as "Other"'.

This presents challenges to managers who must balance expressions of religious identities or beliefs with that of other elements of employment. For example, a recent judgement from the European Court of Justice found that a public administration could ‘prohibit the visible wearing in the workplace of any sign revealing philosophical or religious beliefs’ in order to 'put in place an entirely neutral administrative environment’. It also points out that each EU member state has a margin of discretion in designing its own public services neutrality.

But legal scholarship has demonstrated a growth of anti-veil laws in European countries. When one group and gender are subjected to such laws, it could be argued that workplace discrimination has been institutionalised in certain domains.

There are obvious social and economic costs when talented, qualified and caring individuals feel that their religious identity will bring them into harm’s way on their commute to work, or within the workplace themselves. Shortly after midnight on November 24th last, when Dublin's O’Connell Street was marred by violent disorder and mindless destruction, the Muslim Sisters of Eire, a charity who provide support for homeless people in the capital announced that they had suspended their essential street level services for safety reasons. The following day a health professional working in a central Dublin hospital talked about her anxieties around wearing a hijab in public.

Religion is more than how members of certain faith traditions present themselves, so how can managers and co-workers avoid discriminating on religious grounds in the workplace? Firstly, we need to recognise that the creation of ‘neutral work environments’ is an impossible task and a secular society is not one where faith is absent or minimised, but rather one where it is an option amongst other positions.

In other words, organisations need to create a workplace where its values are clear to everyone, regardless of the diversity of employees’ beliefs. Accommodating and respecting beliefs is not solely about respecting choice of clothing or appearance, but creating an understanding that there is a range of beliefs that are sacred to colleagues, and that connect them to their past and their traditions. Similarly, it's important to recognise that not everyone may share these beliefs, and some individuals might not adhere to religious convictions at all, which is perfectly acceptable too.

Just as religion has changed over time, so too has religious discrimination, and how it is experienced in the workplace differs from other contexts. This is probably because of how we increasingly experience work as a source of spirituality and personal meaningfulness. For many of us, our workplaces have become ‘sacred sites’ where we develop ourselves and contribute to society. Perhaps it's not surprising in the aftermath of the November riots that the first demonstration of solidarity with those impacted was by workers who see Dublin not only as their home, but as their place of work.

This piece originally appeared on RTÉ Brainstorm