Faith rules

A recent judgement of the Appeal Court said that employers (including schools and colleges) are not required to make adjustments to employee working hours for religious reasons.

In a case where a devout Christian refused to be on a roster for Sunday shifts as a matter of course, the court reluctantly said that since an employee can change his job he has no case for unfair dismissal.

For schools, the issue of employment is more likely to arise in the case of very strict Muslims asking to be released for Friday prayers, than Christians demanding to be released on Sundays.

While a reasonable employer will make efforts to accommodate religious belief, in the end a person cannot insist on the employer doing so.