NEWS RELEASE Religious respect is not just for Christmas says STUC The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) today urged employers to consider that their employees may want to take holidays to celebrate a range of religious festivals that fall at different times of the year, and not just the traditional Christmas public holidays.
New laws ending discrimination against workers on the grounds of religion or belief were introduced on 2 December 2003. The laws mean that employers should be aware that they may be discriminating against their staff if they do not allow them to take their annual leave to coincide with times that they wish to celebrate a festival associated with their religion, such as Eid, Hanukah or Diwali.
STUC Assistant Secretary Mary Senior said: "Its important for employers to remember that we live in a multi-cultural society, and that we now have new laws which prevent discrimination against workers because of their religion or belief. People are entitled in law to four weeks paid leave a year. Employers may find that they indirectly discriminate against workers if they prevent them from taking holidays during their religious festivals without a presenting a good business case for this".
The STUC is advising trade unions and employers to work together to ensure their annual leave policies are not potentially discriminatory.
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