To send an employee to a client even though she refuses because of her religion?

[GelatinousDynamo]

I have a new employee in my team, she is a devout Muslim. She's been with us since January and there were no issues so far, she's getting along well with everyone and her performance was fine. I sent her an email on Friday afternoon to say that our client has now (finally) prepared all necessary documents and that she should go there and go over everything with them one day next week. She wrote me back today that she can't do that because only men work in the department and she can't spend the day alone with strange men (because of her religion).

AIBU to insist that she does her job and goes there or would that be religious discrimination? She shares an office with a male colleague and has never complained about it. She's the first devout Muslim I've ever had on my team and I honestly have no experience at all with such issues. She's the only one who has the necessary experience and isn't already scheduled elsewhere.

We've had to deal with Muslim men who wouldn't accept female managers before

Good grief

It's disappointing that you think religion should override gender equality and reasonable societal norms. The employee is a religious grifter.

This.

I think it healthy she didn't make stereotyped assumptions about the employee.

Hmm, not sure there is much you can do other than support her.
It's a learning curve.
Make sure that you cover this situation with future interviewees.

The Equality Act protects people from discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. There are certain criteria "philosophical belief" must meet to be protected but the it does not have to be religious in nature to be protected by law. I have seen ethical veganism used as an example of this.

www.acas.org.uk/religion-or-belief-discrimination#:~:text=Religion%20or%20belief%20is%20one,in%20any%20area%20of%20work.

our client has now (finally) prepared all necessary documents and that she should go there and go over everything with them one day next week. She wrote me back today that she can't do that because only men work in the department

Unlikely to be carewok with documentation and dept?

OP has already said it’s a tech field.

Oh dear this is very tricky.

I couldn’t do my job if I refused to work alone with males. I couldn’t have a staff member say they’d only work with mixed groups or women because I couldn’t guarantee that work would be available. If you’re in that situation/industry then you probably don’t have scope to offer her jobs that suit her religious observances. It’s not a choice you are making but the conditions of the clients you have with their male dominated client base?

I imagine you have already had to battle through a mountain of sexism to get to where you are. It’s really impressive that you’re a senior woman in a technical field. Other posters may not understand that while you’re senior you’re still in a vulnerable position. Support this woman over your clients and you lose work. Support your clients (lifeblood of the company) and you’ll be accused of discrimination. I am so sorry you’re dealing with this. It sounds really hard.

Paid by the hour means your client will go elsewhere if this employee has pay extra for a chaperone for jobs with men.

And if you cover the cost of the chaperone I assume her jobs will generate zero profit?

So far has she been able to fulfill the contracts and also keep within the agreed fees? (Without a chaperone)

As others have said I think you’ll need to pay for legal advice and tread carefully.

You might also consider calling her previous employer ostensibly for a reference but you could ask about her saying they didn’t give her premium projects - did they agree with that statement?

It’s such a shame - this woman’s chosen a career which isn’t compatible with her beliefs and probably spent a lot of time and money getting there. She’s going to be really upset when this reality hits home. The premium jobs in a technical industry will involve men. What was she thinking?

The law states:

• Employers have a duty to consider employee requests related to religion or belief, but they are not obligated to grant them
• Employers should consider reasonable accommodations to enable employees to practice their religion, but this must be balanced with the needs of the business

This is correct, @Potsofpetals, though as ever it comes down to what's considered reasonable and the attitude taken by those who seem to think it means "whatever I happen to want"

Though not a lawyer my own experience comes from employees being about 85% muslim because of the sector/geographical area. Needless to say the vast majority were fantastic people and were completely supportive of the very occasional troublemaker being managed out, so providing you're prepared to take proper advice and behave sensitively I wouldn't worry too much

We've had to deal with Muslim men who wouldn't accept female managers before

Edited to add so have I, OP; in fact one such man actually requested that a female trainer was made to leave because her presence was "offensive".
Instead he was the one who was asked to leave, and the case he tried to make got him nowhere except onto a blacklist in the industry

She’s not saying she can’t work with men, she’s saying she can’t work with only men in an isolated area (like an office with no other women).

Where do you draw the line to accommodate people?

I don’t believe religion should be a protected characteristic. It’s a belief system and it’s a choice unlike someone’s race or disability etc…

If someone wants to believe in a faith that’s fair enough but it shouldn’t impact on their ability to do their job and cause issues for other people.

Should someone who sees Sunday as a day of rest refuse to work on Sundays, as it conflicts with their religious views. Literally where do you draw the line to accommodate every religion…

Could they come to you instead or meet somewhere where there will be females? Is it possible to swap people around to accommodate? I'd be very careful, could easily be construed as Religious discrimination. Get tge advice if a good employment law solicitor.

The fact that you don't believe religion should be a protected characteristic is irrelevant.

People just learn. They’re very adaptable.

What did you do about the men in question? If you accommodated their desire not to be managed by a woman (hopefully not), you are likely to lose a tribunal on sexism (being willing to accommodate male Muslims but not female Muslims).

If you didn’t move them to male managers, you will have a stronger case in regard to not accommodating the female employee.

If your religion is going to prevent you from doing certain aspects of your job you need to be up front about this at your interview.

It is in this situation you’re right, mores the pitty.

Thinking of sacking this woman is a bit drastic whatever the legality of it. Can't you ask her exactly what it is about the situation that makes it impossible for her, and what would help? If she's OK sharing a room with her male colleague because of the glass wall, perhaps this other department could agree to leave the door to the corridor open while she's there. Or perhaps a woman colleague from a nearby room could work in there for part of the day. Surely there's a way of accommodating her.

Can she take a female friend or family member with her? Just on this occasion and then you can look into this with more time. (And fail her probation).

I honestly don't think this is a reasonable ask of any workplace, she needs to find a different job.

I don’t believe religion should be a protected characteristic. It’s a belief system and it’s a choice unlike someone’s race or disability etc…

I happen to agree with you, @Pinkandcake, and that goes for ALL religions, but rightly or wrongly the law takes a different view and we can only deal with what we've got

Fortunately - at least IME - the huge majority of people are mostly reasonable, and the few who aren't can be managed if the situation's approached with care

Pharmacists can refuse to sell the MAP I believe

Anybody asked what the company's Lone Worker and Client Visits Policy says yet?

If there isn't one, there should be. Because staff safety in all eventualities is the responsibility of the employer - and assuming because it's a lawyer or some other MC role the male clients are automatically zero risk is a really bad idea, even before you take into account that a particular employee may not be in a position where strolling in without a single worry is going to happen.

There's also the possibility that she's one of the many women who get a job, only to find their husband/partner is constantly on at them that they're only doing it to meet men or only permitted her to work (yes, it still happens in all cultures) if there's always at least one other female present.

Could they come to you instead or meet somewhere where there will be females?

OP has said it's a technical field. Presumably there is actual technology that the employee has to go and work with.

Some of the advice you have had on this thread is very unhelpful and downright dangerous OP. And your DH's advice is the same.

The lack of compassion from some posters is very revealing & not in a good way. That you should 'just sack her', 'sack her later on some other pretext' - even though she has apparently been doing fine until now. Nice that some people think that it is OK to deprive someone of their livelihood without even trying to engage with her & resolve things. And 'just force her do what she is paid to do' won't pan out well either.

The anti-Muslim prejudice from some posters is plain to see; that asking for her religion to be accommodated at work is a 'nice little earner' for her. The supposed inconvenience of being asked by someone to make reasonable adjustments in line with their faith.

The employee has protection under the Equality Act 2010. This is not a matter of gauging opinion from random people on MN, which was never going to be helpful. You need to get legal advice to resolve this or as the employer you could be in trouble. And it isn't clear whether this client visit has implications for her ability to carry out a core part of her job role, or whether this is a one off based on this particular set of circumstances, which could be successfully accommodated in future - but you will need to talk to her about this.