Avoiding vacation discrimination in the workplace

Employees at Harrods, the iconic luxury department store in London, are considering strike action over what the workers deem to be a discriminatory annual leave policy.

The holiday policy, which is not a new policy, but which Harrods started enforcing in June of this year, stipulates that workers may take a maximum of two weeks annual leave at any one time. The workers argue that this policy indirectly discriminates against ethnic minority workers as it restricts them from being able to visit family abroad.

Holiday requests for holidays which are longer than two weeks are being turned down, arguably disadvantaging staff from certain cultural backgrounds who would need a longer period of time off to travel to destinations such as Africa, South America and Asia to see family.

Read the full article on page 11: Business Voice Autumn 2024 

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Business Voice is the official publication of Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group which represents over 3,000 businesses from micro to multi-national organisations throughout Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire & Swindon.

Should this issue be raised as a claim at an employment tribunal, and should the policy be shown to put ethnic minority workers at a particular disadvantage when compared to other persons, Harrods would need to be able to justify the policy by showing it to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.