Marks & Spencer Muslim Staff Can Refuse-To Serve

[trt]

you, if you are buying Pork or Alcohol.

Well that's another store off my list.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10532782/Muslim-staff-at-Marks-and-Spencer-can-refuse-to-sell-alcohol-and-pork.html

[Answerprancer]

Seriously? You'd write off one of the best shops in the UK on principle because one of their till-tenders might not sell you a bit of bacon or a tin of beer?
Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

[douglas9401]

I must be missing something, how do you 'spot' a Muslim?

[Jackdaw33]

Headdress is usually a bit of a giveaway.

[Answerprancer]

Wacker "pandering to these extremists".
Extremists?
I worked in a bike shop a while ago and one of my colleagues (their top mechanic) refused to work on Sundays because he was a born-again christian.
I assume he is also an "extremist" in your book (?)

[douglas9401]

Ah right, headdress, gotcha.

[Answerprancer]

JD, I'm guessing that your vision of a typical muslim working the tills of Marks and Sparks is something like this:

http://f3magazine.unicri.it/wp-content/uploads/020515_Al_Khansaa.jpg

...perhaps also wearing a huge rucksack?

[Jackdaw33]

Wouldn't be surprised.

[Answerprancer]

Aw come on, you're far too intelligent to be a Daily Mail reader ;-)

[murraymints]

It is all getting silly..religion ought to be put aside in the workplace...in the service industry the business is customer led ..and by definition the customer expects and deserves a service..free from Taboo and /or precociousness ..

[Answerprancer]

....amen to that!

[fiction-factory]

Have I got to look at all the tills and weigh up who will possibly serve me and who will throw a fit?
Wel, Talbot, l as I'm only aware of one dreadful incident (the one the Mail exposed where someone was delayed a few minutes in Tesco) in the last few years I think the chances are very slim indeed, but if you want to reduce the risk then it might be worth being selective with which till you go to (make sure they are old enough too) or which store you shop at, or you can shop online

[fiction-factory]

>So, a Catholic check out operator should be able to refuse to serve a customer who has a pack of condoms for religious reasons? or a Hindu can refuse to sell and scan beef and on it goes. People like this, they should move to a country that can accommodate them.

No, but they can ask their employer and the employer can make alternative arrangements if they think it is in their interests to do so. I would be wary as an employer about making concessions but employers are often pretty good about accommodating different requests/needs- eg childcare responsibilities, disabilities, being under age for sellling alcohol, etc.
If you want to see an employer's HR policy before you shop you can ask for one- or check with trt's facebook leads

[aelmpvw]

spose i'll have to find somewhere else to buy my regular supply of pork scratching and guinness if my local store decides to employ a muslim

[fiction-factory]

^ yes, if the staff are 100% Muslim and the store agrees that none of them will sell alcohol and pork scratchings and if there is no self service checkout. I think the economic realities may hit them though

[dannyk13]

I fail to understand how they can object when the products are either bottled or canned.They are touching either glass or metal not pork or alcohol.

[fiction-factory]

Nor me danny, but the employer is at liberty not to appoint them if it decides that on balance it would rather have full flexibility of staff regardless of any other factors

[Samuraisan]

Good idea ff, just don't employ them if they reply negative to the question if they would mind touching a can,bottle, etc. that contains their forbidden fruits. Or the employer could put a red flashing sign up warning shoppers not to use those tills if one of them is working it. Or maybe they could wear gloves. Then they wouldn't get polluted.

[TWR]

04 02, Why SHOULD you have to do that Jackdaw?

[Zacs-Master]

Maybe their 3 year old decision isn't working?:
http://annualreport.marksandspencer.com/M&S_AnnualReport_2016_Financials.pdf

[naomi24]

fiction-factory, //the employer is at liberty not to appoint them if it decides that on balance it would rather have full flexibility of staff regardless of any other factors //

That's not true. It is illegal to refuse to employ someone on grounds of their religion. As far as I'm aware the only time an employer may refuse to employ someone on religious grounds is if their religious requirements would demonstrably hamper the normal running of the business.