I am a HR Manager at a company which provides emergency repair services. One repair engineer has to be available every day, including on public holidays. An engineer has complained about his annual leave request for Christmas Day being refused – but the other engineers had already booked the day off. He is a devout Christian and claims that he should be given preferential treatment as it is a day of worship. I’m afraid he will bring a discrimination claim. How do I handle it?

For many, Christmas is a time of relaxation and enjoyment which they expect to receive as a day off work. However, our starting point should be to consider how the 25th of December is viewed