Religious &
Cultural Needs
A Guide for School Managers
and School Based Staff
Issued: September 2011
Version 2
Department of Business Support - Human Resources
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INTRODUCTION
It is acknowledged that school based staff come from diverse backgrounds: some have no
religious faith; others are committed to a greater or lesser extent to a variety of religions.
It is unlawful to discriminate against individuals because of their religion, religious belief or
similar philosophical belief.
The most recent piece of legislation in this area is the Equality Act 2010 which protects
various characteristics including religion or belief. All major religions are covered as well as
some less well known beliefs. Those without religious or similar beliefs are also protected
against discrimination under the legislation.
This guidance incorporates the statutory provisions, local and national conditions of service
for school based staff. The aim of this guidance is to provide information for Managers in how
to deal with requests regarding religious observance and also to provide staff with guidance
on how they may make requests for adjustments in order to enable them to observe the
religious or cultural practices surrounding their faith or belief. The scope of guidance covers
both management and staff.
Time off for religious observance
When requesting and granting time off for religious observance both management and
employees have the following responsibilities:
Management Responsibilities:

Managers should be sympathetic and give serious consideration to requests.

If reasonable notice for such requests is not given, or if granting this would make
service delivery impossible, the manager may have no choice but to refuse time off.

If the request is refused, the member of staff may appeal to the School’s Appeals
Committee. The appeal should be made in writing within 20 working days of the
original decision being given, stating the grounds for the appeal. The school
grievance procedures will be used. There is no further level of appeal.
Employee Responsibilities:
Time off for religious observance should where possible be planned in advance for the
occasion, the employee must give as much notice as possible when informing the
Headteacher of their wish to take leave. The dates of some days of religious observance are
reliant on a sighting of the new moon and will therefore vary from year to year. Whilst
occasions will be known well in advance, it is not always possible to give a definite date until
much nearer to the time.

Requests for planned leave of absence should be made well in advance of the date
of absence in writing using a “Leave of Absence Request Form” (Appendix 1). This
should be submitted to the Headteacher and should include reasons for the request
which make clear why the leave cannot be taken during a normal school closure
period, and the dates and length of the period of leave of absence requested.

If the request is refused, the member of staff may appeal to the School’s Appeals
Committee. The appeal should be made in writing within 20 working days of the
original decision being given, stating the grounds for the appeal. The school
grievance procedures will be used. There is no further level of appeal.
For further details on the process of requesting and granting leave of absence, please refer
to the Leave of Absence Policy.
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Entitlement to Religious Observance
School managers are advised of the need for sensitivity, flexibility and parity of treatment
between teaching and support staff. It is appreciated that managers must always ensure the
effective delivery of service. However, it is expected that managers will make every
endeavour to support requests for leave of this nature.
Employees who wish to take time off for religious observance will be entitled to make
requests as follows:
Teaching Staff
The Local Conditions of Service for Teachers state that a teacher may request to be
released from their duties for up to 3 days per academic year for;
“attendance at a religious ceremony or observation of religious festival which the teacher is
under a moral obligation to attend or observe by reason of his/her membership of, or office
in, a church or religious order”
Please refer to the Leave of Absence Schedule (Teachers Pay & Conditions)
This definition does not include time for preparation for festivities or days for family
celebrations which are not the specified dates for the religious event. For example, there is
only a single day of religious observation required for any individual festival, for example
such as an Eid or Hanukkah or Divali.
Support Staff on term time contracts
There is no specific reference to leave for religious observation in the conditions of service
for support staff.
It is recommended that for term time only staff school managers, in consultation with the
Chair of the Governing Body, grant up to three days per year with pay, in line with conditions
for Teachers.
Support staff on all year round contracts
All year round staff can use annual leave for time off for religious observation and therefore
should not be granted additional paid leave for this purpose. Time off in lieu, flexitime or
unpaid leave may also be considered. It is expected that managers will make every
endeavour to support requests for leave of this nature.
Use of School Closure Days – “Occasional Days”
Where a school has a significant proportion of pupils and/or staff from particular faith groups
where a need for religious leave may be required outside the normal periods of school
closure, the Governing Body may wish to consider use of occasional days to close the school
in order to meet the religious needs of the community. This results in fewer learning days
being lost by children and reduced expenditure on additional paid leave for teachers and
term time staff.
Observance of Prayer Times at Work
All staff, regardless of religious belief or non-belief, are required to work in accordance with
their contracts.
Headteacher’s, while retaining the right to ensure appropriate cover, should make every
attempt to ensure that those whose religion requires them to pray at certain times during the
day are enabled to do so through agreed flexible working arrangements.
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Schools are not required to provide a prayer room; however, they must make reasonable
effort to provide an appropriate quiet place for staff to undertake their religious observance
wherever practical within the needs of the school.
Schools are not required to enter into significant expenditure and/or building alterations to
meet religious needs. For instance some religions/beliefs require a person to wash before
prayer. This is often done symbolically or by using the existing facilities.
Cultural Dress
The dress worn by staff should be consistent with the standards expected of professional
school workers. All schools should welcome the variety of appearance brought by individual
cultural styles and these can be perfectly consistent with professional standards within this,
individuals should be able to dress according to their wishes unless this is detrimental to a
person’s capacity to do their job or is deemed unsafe or inappropriate for some other valid
reason. However, there may circumstances where a particular form of dress may be
inappropriate.
An example of this may be the niqaab (a veil worn by some Muslim women revealing only
their eyes) and other forms of clothing which cover the face. Management may take the
decision to not allow these forms of dress to be worn in school for the following reasons;

Obscuring the face and mouth reduces the non-verbal signals required between
adults and pupils both in the classroom and other communal parts of the school.
Pupils need to see the adult's full face in order to receive optimum communication.

Schools are professional settings where communication is vital, both between adults
and pupils.

Staff need to be identifiable for health and safety reasons.
The school may take the view that the desire to express religious identity does not overcome
the primary requirement for optimal communication between adults and children. Ultimately,
each case should be considered on its merits in the light of the principles identified above.
Pilgrimage
Please refer to the school’s Leave of Absence Policy or the Hajj Policy which can be found in
Appendix 3.
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APPENDIX 1 – Leave of Absence Request Form
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE EMPLOYEE
You are advised to read the Governing Body’s policy on leave of absence before making
your request for leave of absence.
Your name:
Post held:
Date of commencement of leave:
Date of return to work:
I request that 1 day’s leave is granted WITH PAY
Reason for requesting leave making clear why term time leave is necessary:
(continue over if necessary)
Signed:
Date:
NOTE:
* Normally 1 day’s leave for religious observation is granted with pay
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APPENDIX 2 - Frequently Asked Questions
Q.
Must schools have an Equality Policy?
A.
Yes, schools have a duty to have an equality policy, a gender equality scheme and
disability equality scheme.
Q.
Do the Regulations cover all religions and beliefs?
A.
It is unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of religion, belief or non
belief.
Q.
Do schools have to provide a prayer room?
A.
Regulations do not state that schools have to provide a prayer room. However, if
employers able to do so, it is good practice to consider providing a suitable area for
religious observance.
Q.
Do schools have to release staff for prayer outside normal rest/break periods
for religious festivals?
A.
Schools do not have to release staff for prayers outside normal breaks or holiday
periods. There may be jobs where it is not possible to be flexible but explanation and
discussion may enable a compromise to be achieved. Staff need to understand that
they have a responsibility to be reasonable to both their employer, colleagues when
asking for time off.
Q.
Does the Code of Practice entitle all non-teaching staff to take up to three days
paid leave for the purpose of attendance at a religious ceremony or observation
of a religious festival?
A.
There is no agreed entitlement to such leave for non-teaching staff. Schools are
recommended to use their discretion to allow such leave.
The recommendation to allow leave with pay applies only to term time only staff. With
regard to staff working on an all year round basis it is recommended that leave be
agreed with the person concerned using his or her normal personal holiday
entitlement for the purpose.
Q.
If the religious festival or ceremony falls on a weekend or another day which
would not normally be worked, can staff take the next available day(s) in its
place?
A.
No, the recommendation to schools to agree to paid leave is solely to enable staff to
observe the important days in their religious calendars, when this is a day on which
staff would normally be in school.
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APPENDIX 3 - Hajj Policy
Any request made for a substantial period of leave in order to carry out religious obligations
for members of any religion will be considered on the same basis as set out in this policy.
Aims of Policy
The purpose of this policy is to set a framework for the Governing Body to manage and
administer requests from Muslim staff wishing to perform the obligatory pilgrimage of Hajj.
Policy Statement
The school recognises the difficulty which results from the academic year following the
Gregorian and not the Hijri calendar, which means that Hajj can fall during times when the
school is in session. The school respects that Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is an
obligation upon Muslims once in their lifetime, financial/health conditions permitting. The
school is committed to providing high quality education whilst having a balanced approach to
the religious needs of its staff. Staff requests for leave for Hajj will be considered according
to the following criteria:
1. In order to minimise any possible disruption to colleagues and students, staff wishing to
apply for the obligatory Hajj leave will notify the Chair of Governors and the Head teacher
in writing by the end of Ramadan for the following Hajj.
2. Staff wishing to perform the obligatory Hajj may apply for a maximum of three weeks
unpaid leave (see “Unpaid Leave” for advice where school holidays are included (in
schools leave of absence policy)).
3. In order to balance the needs of students and the need for staff to make the obligatory
Hajj pilgrimage, Muslim staff will be granted Hajj leave subject to the school’s ability to
release staff without an adverse impact on service delivery.
4. All Muslim staff will be considered with fairness irrespective of their professional status
within the school. Applications will normally only be considered for the obligatory (first)
Hajj. In exceptional circumstances requests made on compassionate grounds may also
be considered by the Governing Body.
5. Permissions / requests for Umrah or non-obligatory Hajj will not be considered during
school term time except in exceptional compassionate grounds.
6. When making a request to undertake Hajj staff are asked to consider the effect their
absence might have on the students with whom they work.
7. The initial decision on whether or not to grant exceptional leave for Hajj will be made by
the school’s staffing committee which will consider the written application made by the
staff member. Any appeal against the decision of the staffing committee will be heard by
the governing body’s appeals committee. The staff member may put his or her case in
person to the Appeals Committee, assisted by a trade union representative or a work
colleague. The Headteacher (or appropriate manager) may present the management
case to the Committees at the first hearing and at the appeal hearing.
8. In accordance with the school’s overall policy on leave of absence, staff should not book
tickets etc. before the Hajj leave has been approved.
9. Overstaying an approved absence may be considered as unauthorised absence (unless
there are substantial grounds for having done so – staff in this situation should keep any
evidence) and could lead to disciplinary action.
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