Employers are within their rights to ban workers from wearing religious symbols including headscarves, the European Courts of Justice has ruled.
Private employers may bar staff from wearing Islamic headscarves and other visible religious symbols under certain conditions, the European Union's top court ruled on Tuesday.
The decision was the first to be made over the issue of women wearing headscarves at work.
The ban means decisions can be made based on internal company rules requiring all employees to "dress neutrally".
Companies cannot ban items of clothing, including burkas, based on a customer complaint.
Jonathan Chamberlain, partner, Gowling WLG, said: "The decision brings EU law into line with what has been the UK's approach for some years.
“For example, it's fine for employers to have a dress code but it needs to be applied with some sensitivity and flexibility to take account of religious beliefs.
“What is almost certainly never OK is for an employer to tell an employee to stop wearing a religious symbol because a particular customer has asked for it."
The court found that a Belgian firm which had a rule barring employees who dealt with customers from wearing visible religious and political symbols in a bid to maintain neutrality, if it met certain other conditions.
However, it found that a French company that dismissed a software engineer for refusing to remove her headscarf may have breached EU laws barring discrimination on religious grounds if it did so following a customer complaint.
Referring to the case of Samira Achbita, who was dismissed as a receptionist in Belgium by services firm G4S, the court said: "An internal rule of an undertaking which prohibits the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign does not constitute direct discrimination."
However, it added, in the case of Asma Bougnaoui, who was dismissed by French software company Micropole: "In the absence of such a rule, the willingness of an employer to take account of the wishes of a customer no longer to have the employer's services provided by a worker wearing an Islamic headscarf cannot be considered an occupational requirement that could rule out discrimination."
