WORKPLACES CAN IMPOSE HIJAB BANS AS A “GENERAL” WAY, RULES TOP EU COURT

Sat 15 October 2022:

The European Union’s highest court has ruled that companies within its member states may prohibit hijabs as long as it is done in a “general” manner that does not constitute “direct discrimination.”

The ruling, issued on Thursday by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), concerned a dispute that had been ongoing since 2018 between a Muslim woman in Belgium and SCRL, a company that manages social housing.

This case was regarding a Muslim woman who was told by a Belgian company that she cannot wear her headscarf during her six-week work traineeship, said a Reuters report. However, the company asserts this was in line with its neutrality rule which does not allow any head covering, whether a cap, beanie or scarf of any kind.

Subsequently, the woman went to a Belgian court, which then sought counsel from the Luxembourg-based CJEU. This was following their other ruling in 2021 which said that EU companies could ban employees from wearing a hijab in certain conditions, in order to project image neutrality, said the report.

“The internal rule of an undertaking prohibiting the visible wearing of religious, philosophical or spiritual signs does not constitute direct discrimination if it is applied to all workers in a general and undifferentiated way,” the court said.

It added that if such an internal company rule, such as that applied by SCRL, resulted in the indirect disadvantage of a particular religion or belief, then it would constitute “a difference in treatment”.

It said that for it not to constitute “indirect discrimination”, the company would need to show a demonstrable “genuine need” for pursuing a neutrality policy.

Last year, the European Union court was condemned by Muslim women and campaign groups after issuing a similar ruling which stated that employers could, in principle, ban staff from wearing hijabs.

In January, French legislators voted in favour of an explicit ban on “the wearing of the veil in sports competitions”, triggering an uproar by women’s rights advocates.

France had already come under fire after an amendment last year to the controversial “separatism bill” banned girls under the age of 18 from wearing hijab in public spaces.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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