LEGAL WATCH (5): KEEPING SUNDAY SPECIAL

In the workplace?

On 25th July 2005 the Court of Appeal gave judgment in the case of Copsey v. WWB Devon Clays¹.  Mr Copsey was employed as a team leader by a quarrying company at a site near King’s Lynn working shifts Monday to Friday between 1 March 1988 and 31 July 2002, when he was dismissed. The circumstances surrounding his dismissal were that due to new orders which substantially increased the output required from the business, his employers needed to extend the operating hours. As a result they introduced a rotating 7 day shift pattern which was originally not compulsory to all employees. However, eventually the employers decided that they needed to require all operatives to work the new shift pattern. Mr Copsey refused to change to the 7 day pattern because, as a Christian, he was not willing to work regularly on a Sunday. Mr Copsey was given a number of other options, including alternative employment in another department. He declined these, and he was dismissed.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Mr Copsey’s appeal against the findings of the Employment Appeal Tribunal that he was not unfairly dismissed, but that he was dismissed for refusing to accept the new shift pattern, and that there were sound business reasons for the need to make these changes, namely the significant increases in production. Even the qualified right of “freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs” conferred on Mr Copsey by virtue of Article 9 (2) of the European Convention on Human Rights did not assist him. There was a measure of disagreement amongst the Judges about the reason for this, but one of them took the view that they were bound to take into account European jurisprudence in the area which had established that where there was incompatibility between work requirements and the manifestation of religious beliefs, an employee in the position of Mr Copsey had a choice: he was free to resign!

In the High Street?

In 1994 the long and hard battle fought by the “Keep Sunday Special” campaign was lost and the Sunday Trading Act removed many of the restrictions on Sunday shopping in the UK. It was argued then that Sunday work benefited consumers, many of whom wanted the freedom to be able to shop on Sundays. However this change has led to many more people working on Sundays and has significantly increased the pressure on people to do so. 

Tens of thousands of shop workers were served with new contracts which gave them little choice about working any five days out of seven. For some promotion prospects have been affected; some have left their employment rather than work on a Sunday. The social cost of this change has been significant. Research has demonstrated that weekend working is having an adverse effect on families across Britain, particularly on disadvantaged households. Findings from the National Centre for Social Research, commissioned by Keep Time for Children, reveal that around 1.4 million parents are working regularly through the whole weekend and over 2.5 million families are affected by a parent working regularly over the weekend. These parents who regularly work weekends are more likely than others to be poorly qualified and on a low income. Further research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, published in September 2002, found that 75% of workers who work weekends do not do so out of choice. Amongst mothers in this group, 78% said that they were dissatisfied with working on Sundays.²

A Biblical Perspective

In the words of Lord Justice Rix from his judgment in the Copsey³ case, the Fourth Commandment is “one of the earliest and closest to universally recognisable texts of employment law in favour of the employee of which we have knowledge”. It reads as follows:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the aliens within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy”⁴.

Many interpret the commandment as meaning that one day a week should be set aside as God’s day when time should be spent on things which are separate and distinct from the work that they carry out on the other days of the week. Neither should you do anything that would require someone else to work where this is not essential. In our culture Sunday is the day that Christians choose to meet together and many Christians choose to set aside Sunday for this special purpose. God intended that the concept of rest be built into our working lives. In allowing Sunday trading and in failing to uphold the rights of those who do not wish to work on a Sunday, our Society is ignoring the fourth commandment entirely. We should not be surprised that this has consequences.

How far should the law go to guarantee individuals freedom to practise their religion?

Of course the case of Copsey raises issues which go far beyond those of the Sunday shopping debate. How can the corporate interests of producers and consumers be balanced with the need to show proper respect for religious beliefs? It seems that after 1000 years of giving the Christian religious tradition priority over economic demands, the rights of Christians in our society are now given very low priority. Perhaps society is just not used to Christians standing up for what they believe in. But can it be right that the economic demands of the employer take priority over society’s responsibility to enable individuals to express their faith as they wish to? Of course particular challenges arise in a multicultural society such as ours, but surely the views of the religious “majority” (and over 65% of people in the UK call themselves “Christian” compared to 2% for Moslems and 0.7% for Hindus) should be legislated for. The secular state should certainly not impose its own “faith” position, a view of the world which excludes religion, on those who are religious. The situation Mr Copsey found himself in certainly seems to be unacceptable in a culture that prides itself in being tolerant to those of all beliefs and none.

Since the Copsey case the Employment Equality (Religion or belief) Regulations have come into force. It was these that enabled the Muslim worker Mohammed Khan to win his case for unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of religion when he was dismissed for taking an unauthorised six week holiday to visit Mecca on a Hajj pilgrimage. However even these Regulations may not have assisted Mr Copsey as there is a defence to indirect discrimination within them if the employer can establish a legitimate business need which could not be met by other reasonable means.

What do you think? Would you risk your job for your faith if the Lord asked it of you? Please pray for boldness on the part of Christians in standing up for what they believe in. 

If you are interested in researching this issue further you could access the following websites: 
www.keepsundayspecial.net
www.keeptimeforchildren.org.uk

Rebecca Hunt
13 August 2005

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

Please sign the online petition

A cross-party group of Parliamentarians has found the DTI guilty of a major error of judgement in seriously underestimating the social effects of extending Sunday trading hours. The report "Whose Convenience? An Enquiry into the Social Effects of Extending Weekend Working and Sunday Trading" is available online
.
The media release about the report is available at: www.relationshipsfoundation.org/news/newsdetail.php?p=7&c=8&id=64

Also the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has appointed assessors to look at the scope for the further liberalisation of Sunday Trading.

Rebecca Hunt
24 April 2006

References

1. 2005 EWCA Civ 932
2. http://www.keeptimeforchildren.org.uk/caseforchange.php
3. Supra at para 75
4. Exodus ch 20 v8 -11