British Humanist Association 1 Gower Street, London. WC1E 6HD Registered Charity No ‘Religion or Belief’ Training Toolkit Case study discussion

British Humanist Association 1 Gower Street, London. WC1E 6HD Registered Charity No ‘Religion or Belief’ Training Toolkit If these allegations are true, legally she is quite possibly being harassed due to her ‘religion or belief’ as it is defined as “creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.” The fact that she has complained and no action has been taken is relevant - it is up to the organisation to protect people from such behaviour. Although she could technically take the organisation to an employment tribunal if she wanted to, there are surely better ways of dealing with this-  Is there a robust Equality Policy dealing with ‘religion or belief’?  Is everyone aware of the policy and the fact that it applies to them?  Has there been training on equality and diversity for staff, particularly managers?  Has there been training on harassment for staff, particularly managers?  If the problem continues, perhaps the team would benefit from a meeting to discuss the issues, possibly using a mediator.  Are there any disciplinary actions the organisation can take if the negative behaviour continues and are these written into any equality and diversity schemes? Case Study 1- Suggested Answer

British Humanist Association 1 Gower Street, London. WC1E 6HD Registered Charity No ‘Religion or Belief’ Training Toolkit Case Study 2- Suggested Answer Surely ‘community weeks’ should be for the whole community? If it is based entirely on ‘faith,’ a large proportion of the population may feel excluded. Religious community groups and the ‘inter faith’ forum can still be involved, even if the week is not centred on ‘faith.’ This is not true of non-religious groups if ‘celebrating faith’ is the theme. Why celebrate just one aspect of identity? Surely celebrating diversity more generally would be more inclusive? Also, although the ‘inter faith’ forum is exempt from the Equality Act in terms of controlling its membership, the council has no such exemptions. Could having the whole event run by the ‘inter faith’ forum be seen as a discriminatory act? How would this fit with other council work? - e.g.  The Equality Framework for Local Government which talks only of ‘religion or belief’ and not ‘faith’?  The new Duty to Involve - which specifies that councils should include everyone?

British Humanist Association 1 Gower Street, London. WC1E 6HD Registered Charity No ‘Religion or Belief’ Training Toolkit Case Study 3- Suggested Answer There is no equality legislation that requires an organisation to provide a prayer room. Some organisations do provide them. They are usually larger organisations with lots of space and a large workforce. Where they are provided, it is better to have a room which can be booked at particular times for all members of staff, not just for prayer. This allows space for prayer but does not set aside valuable space to be used by a small minority or only at particular times of the day. What is the evidence that this room is needed? Perhaps a survey asking if any staff would use this facility would help to clarify matters. Even if someone does request a room, the organisation is not required by law to provide one – but it would need to be able to justify its decision, e.g. because of lack of space. Moving someone without consulting them to provide for such a room is not necessarily a good idea. Will it lead to bad feeling?