Work Place political Correctness Gone Mad (UK)?

Question

I'm an IT manager and i'm about to have a rebellion on my hands.

I have one Muslim employee who goes off 5 times a day to prey in addition to his lunch and other breaks. The rest of them (non-Muslim) now want the exact amount of breaks as well.

I have a Muslim girl on the helpdesk who has suddenly decided to find her roots and now has the full veil outfit. Other members of staff have complained that they cant deal with her anymore (we have foreign works who rely on lip reading and one deaf employee who also relies on lip reading)

This girl NEEDS to communicate verbally with these people.

I have told her this new get up of hers is interfering with her job as she can no longer communicate with some of her team

and what a surprise a complaint of racial harassment has gone in.

Upper management have buried their heads in the sand and left it to me!

any help from anyone in HR or Management would be appreciated on how to diffuse this situation with out offending anyone

if anyone is interested in this, thankfully the HR director has taken over responsibility for this.

We aparantly have clauses in our employment contracts to cover the veil issue (comes down to not being able to do carry out her job)

and chap who goes off to prey works his 37.5 hours a week (he works extra on saturday mornings to make up) The rest of the guys new that ( i didnt) so that has been put to rest.

Now I can go back to spending my time more wisely and answering questions while at work!

Answer 1

I sympathise with you greatly, but i dint see how you can diffuse the situation without causing offence, it almost seems as though they are going out of there way to be awkward, i realise that this is not always the case, at the end of the day your management cannot just ignore this situation they have to tackle this, as for the girl suddenly changing her dress code it is obviously now affecting her ability to do the job for which she was employed, presumably you would not have employed her for this role if she was wearing this veil at the interview, although that would have been a tricky area, seems like a no win situation to me i am afraid

Answer 2

Surely when these guys started their jobs, they signed a contract? Use the terms of the contract to restrict their behaviour.

If the contract says "half an hour's break (total) for every 6 hours worked, then hold the praying Muslim to that. If he repeatedly refuses, escalate, warn him of the consequences, then fire him...on the basis that he is not fulfilling HIS terms of the contract HE signed. If he wishes to re-negotiate for a lesser salary, or defend himself on the basis that he does the same amount of work, or more than others, then he can do so...but he cannot just disregard the rules.

As for the young lady...there is no problem with "finding yourself" especially as we live in a country where people's right to freedom of expression is statutory. Again, however, if she cannot fulfil her job, then if there are relevant terms in her contract for her to be able to perform to a certain level, then communicate this to her.

By no means fire people willy-nilly, and by ALL means, communicate your desires with the team members concerned...both those currently flouting the rules, and those who are pressing to in the future.

Answer 3

The breaks to go praying, well surely the law says that you have to have worked a certain number of hours before taking a break (which is probably around 10 minutes for 4 hours work)?

As for the veil, you would need proof that this girl cannot do her job correctly with her garb on, eg affadavits from employees who cannot communicate with her.

Answer 4

Ignore timones response, I know this is hapening all over the UK at the moment. I have no idea how you can make it all better, all I can say is there is no way of making everyone happy. I wish you every success in your work, and hope you can find a solution that doesn't result in you being sacked!!!!

Answer 5

I don't believe for one second that there a girl with a full veil on at the helpdesk if she needs to converse with clients ...sorry !! And its not down to you but your superiors about the guy's praying habits.

Answer 6

Unbelievable. I agree with you, surely if it's stopping her carrying out her job then she is unemployable in that particular role, especially has she has suddenly decided to wear this get up, if that's how she dressed when you offered her the job then that would be different.
Could you take the angle of offering her another position where her clothes wouldn't impact? If she didn't agree then surely she could be dismissed?

I'm not in HR but this sort of thing drives me mad.

Answer 7

The guy needs to make up his time spent praying by staying longer, though I thought they only needed to go friday?

A complaint about the girls inability to perform the job needs to have happened, then fire here for incompetence.

Answer 8

I suggest you contact your own HR department.

While there are country specific employees laws , every organization has it's own additional rules.

Are you sure no one can hear her with the veil on? They seem to speak quite clearly to me when they have their veils on.

http://www.emplaw.co.uk
http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/hrm/steele

Answer 9

did she wear it at the start then apologise and tell her to remove it when shes working with people if she wont send her home.
to think over what you have said i would get statements off other people inc muslims in case you go to a tribunal.
p.s if this is a piss take get off the bandwagon we are all past jack straws remark and its been debated to death something new please

Answer 10

this is stupid, if she can't do the job, send her home until she can.

As for the breakes, there is nothing you can do to stop religious practice, you can however tell the rest of the staff that if the want the same breakes they must convert to the Muslim Religion