Banning of visible religious symbols

The European Court of Justice has ruled that companies can ban visible religious and political symbols as part of a general policy.  This is the first decision that a court has made with regard to banning women wearing Islamic head scarves at work.  The decision states that head scarves can be banned as part of a general policy barring all religious and political symbols.  It is not direct discrimination if a company wants to project a neutral image and has a legitimate reason to do this.

A customer of the company cannot demand removal of the headscarf if the company does not have a policy in place.

If a company requires a policy to be in place, the policy should clearly states that any religious or political symbols are prohibited.  This also applies to employees wearing any jewellery that is of religious nature.