Sharia Employment Law
by Philip
With news that the Archbishop of Canterbury is suggesting that a system of Sharia law could run alongside the common law in areas such as family law, could Sharia law work for employment law?
I do not know how far, if at all, Sharia law impacts on workplace law.I would assume (very dangerous I know) that countries that adopt Sharia law do not have well advanced and well honed employment legislation. I may be wrong.
Looking at the question in an abstract way I cannot see a system of Sharia law working where muslims and non muslims are working side by side with different rules subsisting.
In workplaces that only employ Muslims I could see room for opting out of say unfair dismissal law and having the local Muslim council decide disputes. There is currently scope, for example, for national agreements between a trade union and an employer to opt out of unfair dismissal law and have disputes dealt with by independent, non-judicial panels. I see no reason, in principle, why a similar sort of system could not be applied to muslim only workplaces.
This is a very contentious area, does anyone have any views?
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I think there’s some advancement and honing we still have to do at home - but taking one Muslim country at random, the ever news-hungry Iran, they have:
- An equivalent of our s1 statements of terms & conditions
- A payout of one month’s pay per year of service on ANY dismissal, and compulsory reinstatement if the dismissal is unfair (and they know how to do compulsory)
- A whacking big holiday entitlement of 64 days per annum inc. public hols
- Three months maternity leave, including preservation of continuity of service
- Compulsory 44% pay premiums on any overtime over 44 hours per week.
The key thing you mustn’t ever do with Sharia is confuse it with lawlessness - it has plenty of law (many in the West would say too much), and enthusiastic interventionism in private business. In comparison, our free market capitalist model can - and to many Muslims no doubt does - look completely disinterested in employee welfare.
Usefully Employed said at February 8th, 2008 at 11:54 pm