Christian Groups Call on Parliament to address religious workplace discrimination in its latest inquiry into human rights at work.
The Catholic Union, Christian Institute, and Evangelical Alliance have written to the chair of the committee on human rights, Labour MP Harriet Harman, requesting for religious freedom to be made a “key part” of the inquiry.
“Sadly we know it is becoming increasingly difficult to be a faithful Catholic in many workplaces in this country,” Catholic Union Director, Nigel Parker, said.
“Our concerns are shared by people from other denominations and other faiths as well. This joint letter shows the strength of feeling about this matter. We strongly hope that the Committee will take these concerns seriously,” he added.
A catholic survey conducted this year found that nearly five out of ten employees don’t feel comfortable discussing their faith openly with co-workers and that only 41% of respondents said they didn’t think that religious discrimination received the same legal protection as discrimination against other protected characteristics like age, race, sex, and sexuality
The Catholic Evangelical groups are concerned that, despite the inquiry’s emphasis on “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” this may not receive enough consideration. They desire a separate meeting to talk about religious freedom at the workplace in order to influence the final report and government policy recommendations.
They’re asking the Committee of MPs and peers from different parties to address these worries and suggest ways to make things better.
Speaking about religious discrimination, Christian Institute Deputy Director, Simon Calvert, said “Religion has long been the Cinderella strand of discrimination law. Christians who take their faith seriously can feel overlooked, or even marginalized, by the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion industry. Many employers show little interest in seeking to understand the challenges faced in the workplace by devoutly Catholic or evangelical staff. I hope the Joint Committee on Human Rights will give a voice to these people.”
“It is essential that Christians, and people of other faiths, are able to bring their whole selves to work. Someone’s faith is not an optional extra that can be disregarded or ignored but an integral part of their lives. We encourage the Joint Committee on Human Rights to make the role of faith in the workplace a central part of their inquiry into human rights at work,” Evangelical Alliance Director of Advocacy, Danny Webster said