Employers Can Ban Headscarf, Other Religious Symbols At Work, Rules EU Court

The top court in the European Union on Tuesday ruled that employers will be allowed to ban employees from wearing religious or political symbols in the workplace, such as headscarves commonly worn by Muslim women.

In the Belgian suit, Samira Achbita was sacked from the security firm where she’d worked for three years after she began wearing a hijab to work – the company reportedly said she’d broken “unwritten rules” prohibiting religious symbols.

It is the court’s first decision on the issue of women wearing Islamic headscarves at work.

The ECJ ruling on wearing Islamic headscarves in the workplace passed some responsibility onto the national laws of member states, but Europe has a patchwork response when it comes to this controversial issue.

European Union judges said that the internal rule, which banned signs from all religions or political affiliations, did “not introduce a difference of treatment that is directly based on religion or belief” and that it was therefore in line with the European Union directive on equal treatment in employment and occupation.

The Court’s ruling notes that any headscarf or similar ban needs to be part of a company-wide rule regulating dress for everyone.

The court’s adviser had ruled that she had suffered discrimination because she had been “professionally competent”.

The judgment was based on the cases of two women, in France and Belgium, who filed for discrimination after being fired from their jobs for wearing hijabs.

She informed her employer that she was going to begin wearing a headscarf in the workplace. “It is for the Belgian Court of Cassation to check those conditions”.

“The court could and should have seized the opportunity to put a halt to the multiple discriminations faced by Muslim women and protect their fundamental rights, but they chose not to”, said Lecoyer.

The case was brought by a Belgian receptionist who was sacked for wearing a headscarf to work. Meanwhile Germany’s rightwing populist party, Alternative für Deutschland, said the ruling “sends out the right signal, especially for Germany”.

However, the ECJ also ruled that the ban can not simply be introduced at the request of a customer, or exclusively apply to religious apparel from one faith.

Last week, officials in the northern Italian region of Liguria announced plans to ban women from wearing the Islamic niqab in hospitals and public offices.

Samira Achiba, the Belgian woman, worked for global security firm GS4, and was hired under a contract stipulating that employees not wear visible religious symbols.

‘Whether this is a headscarf, cross or yarmulke it’s vital that any employers who wish to do this ensure that they impose a blanket ban on all religious symbols, rather than one which discriminates against any one religion.