How To Tackle Religion In The Workplace

Due to the recent terrorist attacks and headlines on religious extremism across Europe, the question of restricting religious expression in the workplace is becoming more prevalent for French employers. Employers would agree that the workplace should not be a place where religious tensions should arise. Until recently, employers have had few practical guidelines on how to restrict religious expressions at work, or whether these types of restrictions are lawful. Two recent decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on 14 March 2017 and a practical guideline from the French Ministry of Labour provide several helpful responses, which we summarise below.

Conflicting Principles