Dismissal and the Religious Workplace

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Author	Tanvee Nandan

DismissalandtheReligiousWorkplace



TanveeNandan*



Thispaperdealswiththequestionofwhetheran

individualshouldeverbedismissedfromtheir

workplaceforconductoutsidetheworkplaceand

workinghours,withspecificreferencetoreligious

workplaces.Itexploresthenotionofwhetherthere

isanythingthatsetsreligiousworkplacesapart

fromotherplacesofemployment,allowingfora

greaterdegreeofcontroloverthebehaviourofits

employees.Itisarguedthatthereisnospecialduty

ofloyaltyattributabletoreligiousworkplacesand,

giventhatindividualsfindtheirrighttoexpress

theirreligioncurtailedbythecourtsregularly,the

autonomygrantedtoreligiousinstitutionsgoes

againstthefundamentalconceptofhumanrights.



Introduction



Thispaperwillconsiderthequestionofwhetheranemployer

shouldeverbeabletolawfullydismissaworkerbecauseof

his/heractivitiesoutsidetheworkplaceandworkingtime.

Thispaperisrestrictedtotheissuesarisingfromthe

dismissalofemployeesfortheirconductoutsidethe

workplaceandworkinghours.Iarguethatthisshouldnotbe

alawfulcausefordismissalinthereligiousworkplace,with

226SLJ5(1)



theonlyexceptionbeingwheretheconductisinbreachofan

essentialqualificationofworkoftheemployee.

ReligiousfreedomhasbeengrantedunderArticle9ofthe

EuropeanConventionofHumanRights(“ECHR”)andis

applicabletotheindividualaswellastocollectivefreedomof

religion.However,initsimplementation,theEuropeanCourt

ofHumanRights(“ECtHR”)hasbeenfarmoreliberalin

determiningcollectivefreedoms,ratherthanindividual

freedoms.Ibelievethelattershouldguidetheirdecisions.

Whilereligiousinstitutionsaregrantedincreasingautonomy

todeterminetheirfreedom,thesameisfarfromtruefor

individualsexercisingreligiousfreedom.Mypaperisa

critiqueofthistendencyoftheECtHR,specificallyfocusing

onthedismissalofemployeesfortheirconductoutsidework,

vis‐à‐visreligiousworkplaces.

Thefirstsectionconsiderswhethercertainviewsof

employeesinreligiousinstitutionscanbeconsidered

‘disloyal’totheemployer,andwhetherdismissalonthose

groundsislawful.Thesecondsectionassessestheargument

ofautonomygrantedtoreligiousinstitutionstomake

independentdecisions.Thethirdtacklestheassumptionthat

thereissomethingspecialoruniqueaboutreligious

workplaces,whichcreatesahigherdutyofloyaltythan

others.Fourthly,Icontendthatthethresholdfordismissing

anemployeeonthebasisoftheirconductoutsidework

shouldbebasedon‘necessaryqualification’,whichistosay

thatanemployeeshouldonlybedismissediftheirconduct

outsideworkinterfereswiththeperformanceoftheirduties

orqualityofworkproduced.Finally,Iwillconcludeby

summarisingmyargumentsandreiteratingmyviewthat

employeesshouldnotordinarilybedismissedfortheir

conductoutsideofwork,saveforwhensuchconduct

breachesthe‘necessaryqualification’criterion.

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Dismissal and the Religious Workplace

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