In Cherfi v G4S Security Services Ltd, it has been determined that if an employer can show genuine and justifiable reasons based on costs that a company has chosen to implement a particular policy, that would but for the cost implications be seen as direct discrimination, it will not be.
The above case involves a security company, who used to allow a particular employee to have Friday afternoons off to attend service at his local mosque. The employer could no longer facilitate this as they needed to have two guards on duty at all times, and it was too costly to allow him the time off without him making it up elsewhere. They offered to change the employees working pattern so that he could have Fridays off and work a weekend day instead, but the employee refused and made a claim for unfair dismissal.
The tribunal held that the cost implication on the employer to allow the employee to continue in this manner was disproportionate, thus making the policy fair. The employee’s case failed on the basis of economical consideration.
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