The Christian Institute

Squeezing churches into a secular mould:
New employment laws
threaten religious liberty

Introduction to the issue

New government laws aimed at banning workplace discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief and sexual orientation will mean religious groups will no longer have the freedom to employ only like-minded staff.

At present, churches and other religious groups have complete freedom to employ only those who share the organisation’s faith. This protects the ethos of the organisation. But the government’s proposed new laws will bring this freedom to an end. The proposals will squeeze churches into a secular mould.

Imagine if a vegetarian organisation was forced to employ a meat-eater, or if it was illegal for the RSPCA to dismiss a director who wears a fur coat. If the Labour party could not discipline a researcher who was found to be making donations to the Conservative party, it would be madness. Yet, this sort of crazy legislation is being forced onto religious groups.

Under government proposals it will become illegal to dismiss a member of church staff who becomes an atheist or even a Satanist. Under the Government plans a church youth group leader who leaves his wife for another woman could be dismissed but if he left his wife for another man it would be illegal to dismiss him because of special rules for homosexuals. These draconian laws restrict the right of churches to employ Christian staff. This has never happened before.

In 2000 the Government agreed to an EU directive which prohibits discrimination in employment on the grounds of religion, belief or sexual orientation. The Government has decided to apply the directive to churches without the full range of protections and safeguards permitted in the EU legislation. The Government has published draft legislation. It is using Statutory Instruments (known as “regulations”) to implement the directive.

The Christian Institute will be campaigning for changes to these draft regulations before they come into force in December 2003. This web page will be updated throughout the campaign.