I run a restaurant and one of the waiters who normally works at weekends has gone off work on sick leave. As I am reluctant to hire a new employee, the rest of the staff have been advised that they will have to cover his shifts while he is off. Although most of the staff do not have a problem with this, two employees have advised that they cannot work on Sundays for religious reasons. How do I handle it?


Amanda Magee writes:


Readers will be aware that shop and betting workers have the right, irrespective of religion, to refuse to work on Sundays. However, whether or not other categories of workers can be required to work on a Sunday