Over the last century the British have dealt with religion in public life: by ignoring it. No longer. Multi-cultural Britain has put religion back on the map.
Discrimination in the workplace, direct and indirect, mainly against believers from minority groups, has led to legislative protection for all believers and for committed non-believers.
Those who saw multiculturalism as a means of moving to a French model, with all consideration of religion excluded from public life, have been let down. In fact, the shift has been towards the US, protecting the “free exercise” of religion as a fundamental right.
Protecting the believer at work is but a tiny fragment of the issue for business. How can companies secure talented recruits when a growing proportion of these are taking religion seriously? What about marketing and products?
Companies insist they can only prosper in a healthy and harmonious society. Healthy, when a Muslim man is three times more likely to be unemployed than a Christian man? Harmonious, when a Muslim woman is four times more likely to be unemployed than a Jewish woman? If action by business was ever needed, surely it is now.
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Keep the faith
The Employers Forum for Belief has launched Religious diversity in the workplace, a best practice guide to help businesses to engage with issues of religion at work and in commercial life.
The forum is made up of a group of 11 organisations including founder member BT, Accenture, Barclays, BBC, B&Q, The Co-operative Group, Land Registry, London Underground, Race for Opportunity (RfO), Royal Bank of Scotland and Shell. In addition to sharing information, one of the forum’s main objectives is to raise awareness of holy days and festivals with a view to promoting a greater understanding of the varying faiths and beliefs that exist in the UK. Contact Justine Huxley, The Business of Faith, EFB 020 7496 1610 www.stethelburgas.org
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