Implications of the Religious Discrimination Legislation
The overall purpose of this legislation is to protect all employees from being discriminated against at
work because of their religion or belief. For the first time in the UK (Northern Ireland has had this for
some time) it makes religious discrimination unlawful. However, there is an exception within the
legislation for religious employers to discriminate fairly in order to maintain the faith basis of their
organisation. The exception states that this discrimination is only lawful if it can be demonstrated that
there is a “genuine occupational requirement” (GOR)
Summary of implications for Associate Bodies:
The law allows Christian organisations (therefore Associate Bodies) to recruit Christians when the
following criteria are fulfilled:

The Associate Body has a clearly stated Christian ethos. This needs to be at the heart of the
organisation and forms the values of the organisation. It is insufficient for this just to be a
written statement, but it must be at the core of the Associate Body’s working.

There is a “genuine occupational requirement” (GOR) for the post to be filled by a Christian.
An individual GOR will need to be in place for each position i.e. School Worker/Church
Community Worker/Administrator etc.

The GOR must relate to the nature of the employment, to the context in which it is carried out
and to the Christian ethos of the Associate Body.
What Associate Bodies will need to have in place
The law came into being on 2nd Dec 2003 and therefore each Associate Body needs to be looking at
this ASAP. At the very least, should you be challenged, you need to be able to offer evidence that the
process to comply with the law has been started.
The following will need to exist for each Associate Body:



An Ethos Statement (this is about ‘living the word’ – ‘doing what you say’)
A GOR for each employed position
All future promotional material – leaflets, website etc – will now need to state clearly the
Christian ethos of the Associate Body. (you may like to take a look at the website and recent
adverts of Scripture Union)
A pre-start task:
Before any start is made on the Ethos Statement and GOR’s, we would suggest that you refer to your
Trust Deed/Company mandate – especially to the aims and objectives of your Associate Body. Are
these still correct, or do they need up dating in the light of current working practises and the need to
have a clear Ethos Statement?
Tasks to be completed:
Write an Ethos Statement for your Associate Body. This should reflect ‘who you are and what
you do’ (Scripture Union can provide their statement for you to read, but it must be
remembered that they are a large national and international movement and therefore some of
what it contains would not be appropriate to a small, local body).
Initial stages – Ethos & Values
Scripture Union
Associate Scheme


Be able to state that a GOR is necessary for employee positions. You will need to revisit the
Job Description/Person Specification/Contract of Employment/Advertisement/Recruitment
Literature/Selection process – this is vital if you are about to advertise for a new or
replacement worker. All will need to show the continuity of your Associate Bodies’ ethos and
that a GOR can be applied to the position being advertised. Hallmarks of a Christian
organisation are clarity and transparency about what the Associate Body believes and how it
understands and promotes its ethos.
Initial stages – Ethos & Values
Associate Scheme
Scripture Union