According to a recent decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), employers may prohibit employers from wearing any visible sign of political, ideological, or religious conviction in the workplace under narrow conditions. After the decision, prohibiting employees from wearing headscarves remains impermissible. On July 15, 2021, the ECJ decided in two preliminary rulings that an internal company rule prohibiting employees from wearing visible signs of political, philosophical, or religious convictions at the workplace does not constitute direct discrimination on the grounds of religion or spiritual belief. Such rules that apply to employees who follow certain dress codes on the basis of religious precepts would not be discriminatory provided that the rule is applied generally and in a nondiscriminatory manner, i.e., applied to employees of all religions and spiritual beliefs. Under the rulings, an employer may justify such an internal rule if it is pursuing a policy of ideological neutrality for customers or users the neutrality policy meets a genuine need of the employer, the difference in treatment is appropriate to ensure the proper application of the neutrality policy, and the prohibition is limited to what is strictly necessary. The employer must therefore demonstrate that there was or currently […]
