A report published in October 2024 set out some concerning findings regarding the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict in the workplace. Pearn Kandola, an organisation dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, surveyed over 1000 Muslim and Jewish UK employees regarding their experiences of discrimination at work since the latest iteration of the conflict began on 7 October 2023.
The findings of the report indicated a dramatic increase of antisemitism and islamophobia at work since October 2023, with 47% of Jewish employees and 36% of Muslim employees stating they had experienced an increase in discrimination since October 2023. 43% of Jewish employees and 29% of Muslim employees stated they felt uncomfortable discussing their religious practices at work. A further 69% of Muslim employees and 80% of Jewish employees stated they encounter microaggressions at work.
The findings are troubling but perhaps not surprising. The inflammation of bigotry is an unfortunate byproduct of war and conflict, events which are of course tragic in themselves and are only aggravated by the discrimination that propagates as a result of them. This discrimination will naturally become an issue in the workplace, and employers must be vigilant and careful in how they deal with these issues.
There are legal protections for freedom of expression at work, however this protection is not absolute and it does not protect workers who are being discriminatory or spreading hate speech from being dismissed. Employers have a duty to protect their workers from discrimination, including based on religion and race which are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
The duty of employers to protect workers from discrimination will mostly mean protecting them from discrimination by colleagues. However, the anticipated Employment Rights Bill proposes to re-introduce the obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent workers from being harassed by third parties in the course of employment. If the Employment Rights Bill brings this law into effect, it will be important for employers to have a process in place to protect workers from harassment by third parties, particularly those workers in client-facing roles.
As is always the case, employers should have clear and thorough policies and procedures in place to prevent harassment in the workplace. This includes policies which inform workers what conduct amounts to unlawful discriminatory harassment, when it would constitute gross misconduct and what disciplinary action workers would face if they engage in harassment. It is equally important for employers to have procedures in place making clear to workers how they can raise concerns regarding harassment. Another disturbing finding of the report was that only 52% of Jewish employees and 61% of Muslim employees felt confident reporting negative comments about their religion. Further, 21% of Muslim employees and 31% of Jewish employees felt unsupported by their employer. Where possible, it is best for employers to have specific channels for workers to raise discrimination complaints, including designated employees who are trained to deal with these issues.
I am hopeful the newly announced ceasefire will lessen the discriminatory experience both minorities haveencountered but only time will tell.
If you require assistance or have any queries in relation to dealing with harassment or discrimination in the workplace, please contact a member of the didlaw team.
This blog was written by Yavnik Ganguly, Solicitor at didlaw.
