…Not to start a small business and employ people.
A document published for employers by the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that ecologists could ask to be excused from duties that increase CO2 emissions, such as flying to business meetings, and that druids and pagans should be allowed to take time off work to go on pilgrimages and attend sacred rituals.
The idea that the workplace is for work and all the other baggage gets left at the door is history now, it seems.
It states that “employees may assert the right to discuss their personal beliefs in the workplace and employers should not prevent such conversations”. Bosses should “consider seriously” adapting the relevant work duties to suit their employees beliefs.
It may be an old fashioned view, but I was under the impression that the employer’s duty is to maximise the profits for the company – without which, there would be no employment. It’s a workplace, not a holiday camp. And the work duties should be managed according to the needs of the business, not some fucking religious ritual or faddy food habits.
Jeebus!
It insists that such beliefs should be “more than an opinion or a viewpoint”, should be genuinely and sincerely held and worthy of respect in a democratic society.
No one’s beliefs, no matter how deeply held have any right to any respect whatsoever.
The guidance says that ecologists should be permitted to tell colleagues that it is irresponsible to drive to work because it damages the environment. They could also ask to be excused from duties that increase CO2 emissions.
No, it is not okay. We do not go to work to be harangued by colleagues who follow some nutty religion to fall into line with their beliefs. Telling them to shut the fuck up would be an expression of my deeply held beliefs. Presumably I can expect that to be respected? I’m not holding my breath on that one.
It advises that religious people may also seek to promote their beliefs so long as this is not intimidating, hostile or offensive to others, and that leaflets can be distributed.
No! No! No! NO! This is outrageous. It is a fucking workplace, not an extension of the church, synagogue, mosque or stonefuckinghenge. You keep your weird beliefs at home, you do not take them to work and you do not fucking proselytise at work and I would expect any half decent employer to put a stop to it as soon as it happens.
Well said!
As you imply, it’s one of those awkward wrangles over liberty; at what point should their freedom to be vociferously self-righteous become an absolute right?
The news report doesn’t appear to suggest that all this proselytizing should be done in the employees’ own time, which would at least render it, to a certain extent, self-limiting – I personally hate gambling and don’t eat meat, but if I ever considered it acceptable to harangue my colleagues over lunch on their Lottery syndicate or the contents of their plates, I’d pretty soon find myself eating at a table for one – and deservedly so!
All the more reason not to hire obvious fruitcakes!
Ah, but consider the small firms obliged by anti-discrimination rules to employ women who immediately start procreating on a regular basis and demanding repeated maternity leave; anyone likely to cause this kind of trouble is likely to be well-informed on their employment rights and not averse to involving industrial tribunals – or, indeed, the EHRC – if not offered the job.
XX It states that “employees may assert the right to discuss their personal beliefs in the workplace XX
And I assert MY right to punch the bastard in the nose for being a boring cunt.
HEJ!!! MY religion says “Thou shall not be bored stiff byn prostellising arseholes”…. They wanto take issue with that?
Am considering taking up the Aztec religion so that, should I ever be found elbow-deep in the intestines of a IT tech who really pissed me off….
What an absolutely spiffing idea.
Might I have your permission to distribute this at my place of work?
I promise to send it to ALL IT techies (ignoring the fact that I look after the Macs to a large extent – but Macs, on the whole, need very little in the way of looking after…)
The big get out clause is the ‘Offensive to others’ line. You can always try; “I find this waste of company time a bit offensive. It’s stopping me doing my job properly.”
😈
That depends on what hand you are holding in victimhood poker. Anyone trying that line is likely to be holding a joker…
LR; I’m a very good Victimhood poker player. Aces and deuces wild. If all else fails I bluff it out using some half-spurious ‘elfansaftee argument.
Why not respect the beliefs of the employee? Let them have as much time off as they like and walk to work in they so desire. But… the employer should equally be allowed to reduce the employee’s wage/salary to compensate.
Principles are wonderful things… when someone else is paying for them.
Yeah… I don’t think that’s what they had in mind…
Be carefull….”slippery slope”, and all that. You want to loose pay for fag breaks, but those coffe drinking bastards get away scott free?
Of course, the Coffee freaks do not realise, YET, the THEY are next on “the list”…..
I’m not being funny, but if someone decided to exercise thier ‘uman rites to lecture me on veganism, I would make a point of eating bacon sandwiches in front of them every day after that.
They of course would be unable to eat vegetables. Pretty hard to chew of anything when you’ve had your teeth knocked out…
John, they could still suck on lemons and let’s face it, that is their favourite pastime.
“Hello, Acme Pet Store?”
“Yes? Can we help you?”
“I’d like to apply for that job you listed.”
“Oh! Wonderful! We’ve needed someone for that!”
“Great! I’ll start on Monday. Oh! One thing. I believe it’s immoral to enslave animals as our pets, so my duties shouldn’t have anything to do with such activities. I may also be exercising my belief rights if I see any animals caged anywhere on the premises and may attack anyone I see dragging slave animals on leashes. OK! That’s it for now! Looking forward to working with you!”
🙂
MJM
Worked in a place once where members of a certain sub human group refused to handle Salami, because it had pork in. (MEAT in SALAMI!!?? Some one must have been taking the piss. Sounds like a Leg-iron one to me. 🙂 )
This made life very interesting, in a bloody PIZZA factory, I can tell you.
AND, no one could sack them!
They just sat in the canteen all day, using it as some kind of shisha (whatever those water pipes are called) club.
And this is why you should only hire freelancers and contractors. Never, ever, employ anyone except yourself. Employment is no longer viable except for low-paid jobs like shelf-stacking in a supermarket. And even then, you can just get free “fakeployees” from the local Job Centre who will pay their wages for you.
You should also only ever pay per-project: for results, not hours. The contract both parties sign will stipulate the when. The “how” isn’t important as long as it gets done on budget and on time. If the work is done on a computer, let them work from home if possible. It saves a ton of money through reduced need for office space, HR and the like. Throw in financial penalty clauses for late delivery, etc. and you’re done. And, of course, they have to do their own taxes and NI contributions, not you, so you save money on accounting too.
I think this is what the government wants. They’ve been going out of their way to create a “freelance society”, where everyone works for themselves, independently. It’s why everything costs so bloody much too: it’s subcontractors all the way down now. By encouraging everyone to be their own boss, you also, “coincidentally”, create a massive demand for accountants. Given the make-up of Parliament these days, I don’t think this is an accident.
I used to work for a company which had a continual shift pattern everyday of the year. The system over the Bank Holidays worked fine until a couple of blokes joined who claimed they were pagans, or some such, and required specific days off (anniversary of the blooded moon or something)throughout the year. Their conversations revolved around mocking the Christian members of the teams until they were allocated to work on Christian relgious holidays. Then, of course, their pagan views weren’t all that important. They finally left when a someone wore a T-shirt saying, “I have the right to believe that your beliefs are a load of bollocks”. Then 3 Muslims joined the IT team and had all the relevant Muslim holidays off, but refused to work over Easter and Christmas as they were, apparently, linked in with Islamic festivals. The firm went bust shortly after that, but that was just a coincidence (apparently).