Challenging Query of the Week

‘I run a florists and have recently hired an employee to work Wed-Sun. Things were going fine until she told me that she could no longer work Sundays as this prevented her from attending church. I know she has to give 3 months’ notice to opt-out of Sunday working and I was planning to use this time to recruit someone to cover the Sunday shift. However, she has asked for it to be changed immediately and has threatened to make a claim for religious discrimination if I don’t.  

I thought I knew my rights but I am worried about the potential claim. What should I do here?’

What Peninsula say:

You are right that shop workers have to give 3 months’ notice to opt out of Sunday working, or 1 month if you fail to provide them with a statement confirming this right within their first 2 months of employment. As she has raised the point of religious discrimination you need to consider if you have previously treated a non-Christian employee differently in the same situation, yet as the notice period is a statutory requirement this is unlikely to hold any weight. Therefore, you are free to go back to the employee and inform her that she may have to wait a maximum of 3 months until her request can be facilitated, but that you will be working to get someone in to cover Sundays as soon as possible.