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Religion

The diversity of religions in Europe has increased in recent years partly because of immigration, emigration, mobility, and travel. Most recently enlargement of the EU has brought with it new cultures and religions which further enrich the diversity of the European Union and its citizens.

Religion in the workplace is not something that Europeans openly discuss. In Ireland, for example it is illegal to discriminate against an employee, prospective employee or service provider on 9 grounds (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity, etc.) including religion. From an employer's perspective recruitment and selection procedures, promotion and access to and selection for training, etc. need to be transparent and eliminate direct and indirect discriminatory procedures or measures.

Aoife Maguire of Corporate Training, Ireland advocates that each ''company should have an action plan detailing measures that need to be undertaken to provide a non-discriminatory workplace. The plan should be regularly reviewed and updated and you should monitor its objectives closely and ensure that they are tackled. A firm message that racism is not tolerated should be disseminated through all levels of the company and you should consider offering company anti-racism training."

In the following sections you will find statistical information on religion and links to relevant Websites/Articles including the recent European Union statement on the "Promotion of religion and cultural understanding, harmony and co-operation".