Equality and Human Rights Commission

In some circumstances, indirect discrimination on grounds of religion or belief may be justifiable. But only if it is considered to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

For someone to justify indirect discrimination, they would need to show that there is a genuine business need for a policy that is a particular disadvantage to a certain religion or belief, and that there is no alternative to it.

These types of legally acceptable justifications apply only to indirect religious discrimination, and not to direct religious discrimination.

Example

A company requires its employees to work late on Friday afternoons to analyse stock prices in the American stock market. This is because global time changes mean that the prices arrive late in the day. In the winter months, some staff want to leave early in order to complete particular religious observances before nightfall. Employees offer to make up the time during the rest of the week. But the company cannot agree to this, as the American prices are vital to the business. So the requirement to work on Friday afternoon is not against the law.