On Monday the House of Lords will debate the Equality Bill, a major piece of legislation which aims to improve and simplify laws on discrimination and equal treatment. Although the Bill contains many measures that will be broadly welcomed, Accord has very serious concerns about exemptions it contains for faith schools. Foremost among these is that it allows state-funded faith schools to discriminate far more in their terms of employment than private businesses or charities with a religious ethos.
Baroness Turner of Camden (Labour) has tabled amendments with the aim of addressing this situation. By removing the exemption it will be possible to make sure that any religious discrimination against teachers has to be justified in the context of the particular role.
This would mean give teachers in faith schools the same protections against religious discrimination as other employees in organisations with a religious character.
In principle, Accord is opposed to all discrimination against staff in state funded schools on the grounds of their beliefs, religious or otherwise. However, we believe that many people would be horrified to discover the fact that teachers in state funded schools have fewer rights than those working in religious charities when it comes to religious discrimination.
Whereas almost all other employers have to show that discrimination is an “occupational requirement” of a particular post, faith schools can impose a blanket requirement that all teachers be co-religionists, or that believers are “preferred”. This extends not only to recruitment, but to pay and promotion – meaning that teachers may see their career options limited because of their religious beliefs, or lack of them.
Worse still, any teacher at a voluntary aided faith school—which are the majority of state-funded religious schools—can be dismissed for “conduct…incompatible with the precepts, or with the upholding of the tenets of the religion” of the school.
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