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| European court rules employers can ban women from wearing Islamic headscarves and religious symbols | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The European Court of Justice has ruled that companies can ban employees from wearing the Islamic headscarf, but only as part of prohibitions including other religious symbols. | |
| It is the first case of its kind amid a series of legal disputes over the right for Muslim women to wear the hijab at work. | |
| “An internal rule of an undertaking which prohibits the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign does not constitute direct discrimination,” the court said in a statement. | |
| “However, in the absence of such a rule, the willingness of an employer to take account of the wishes of a customer no longer to have the employer's services provided by a worker wearing an Islamic headscarf cannot be considered an occupational requirement that could rule out discrimination.” | |
| Two employees in Belgium and France had brought the case to the ECJ after being dismissed for refusing to remove their headscarves. | |
| The Belgian woman had been working as a receptionist for G4S Secure Solutions, which has a general ban on wearing visible religious or political symbols, while the French claimant is an IT consultant who was told to remove her headscarf after a client complained. | |
| The G4S dispute, which started in 2006, was originally based on an “unwritten rule” banning employees wearing signs of their political, philosophical or religious beliefs, but the company’s workplace regulations were updated after the woman started wearing a hijab. | |
| Although they apply to all beliefs, the ECJ said it was “not inconceivable” that such rules could be deemed discriminatory for indirectly targeting Islam over other religions. | |
| The French claimant, a design engineer for Micropole, was asked to stop wearing her headscarf to maintain neutrality after a client’s complaint but refused and was dismissed. | |
| The ECJ referred the case back to the French Court of Cassation to establish whether the move was a “genuine and determining occupational requirement” and whether there were any formal rules in place that meet non-discrimination requirements. | |
| The court's advocate general recommended that companies should be allowed to prohibit headscarves as long as a general ban on other symbols was in place last year. | |
| Their advice in the French case was that a rule banning employees from wearing religious symbols when in contact with customers was discrimination, particularly when it only applied to Islamic headscarves. | |
| The ruling, which sets a EU-wide precedent, came a day before the Netherlands’ parliamentary elections, which have been dominated by issues of integration and identity. | |
| Dutch MPs voted in support of a partial ban on full-face Islamic veils last year, but no law has yet been implemented, while prohibitions have been implemented in countries including France, Belgium and Bulgaria, and are being considered in Germany. | |
| Attempts by local authorities in the French Riviera to ban so-called “burkinis” worn by Muslim women and impose fines generated fresh debate last year and have since been repealed by courts. |