Members of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) can now request vegan equipment. Boots, belts, and berets are being replaced with eco-friendly alternatives free from leather or wool. The debate about vegan workwear has been gaining momentum in recent years. But what does the vegan workwear law mean for employers? And is this a legal requirement or mainly a matter of flexibility towards employees? I looked into it.
Read the Dutch version of this article directly on Prettybusiness.nl
Royal Air Force and the struggle for vegan workwear
The Royal Air Force has been discussing vegan equipment for years. In 2019, a helicopter technician refused to wear leather boots because of his vegan belief.
A year later, the British Employment Tribunal confirmed he had a strong legal case. In the case Casamitjana versus League Against Cruel Sports, the court ruled that ethical veganism qualifies as a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010. Just as people have the right to practice religion, they also have the right to live according to a vegan conviction. Under the vegan workwear law employers must therefore consider these beliefs in the same way they account for religion.
The demand for vegan-friendly policies within the RAF grew even stronger with the creation of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) Vegan and Vegetarian Network. This group works on improving policies for staff with a vegan lifestyle and explores alternatives such as vegan work boots. Their efforts led to a policy change: RAF employees can now request vegan equipment. Although the law does not require this, internal pressure clearly pushed the organization to act.
Vegan workwear and the law: what employers must know
So far, there have been no lawsuits in which an employee sued their employer for not providing vegan workwear. There is therefore no case law on this specific subject. However, the fact that in 2020 it was determined that a vegan lifestyle counts as a protected belief already says a lot.
And I’m not just talking about England here, but also about other, particularly European, countries. The Equality Act 2010 is a tool for the British to protect themselves against discrimination at work and in society at large. But the principles are almost the same as those in other countries with similar legal systems: you may not discriminate based on a belief.
The only difference is that, except for England and Scotland, veganism has not yet been recognized in case law in other countries as a belief. Should that happen, in the Netherlands it would fall under the Equal Treatment Act on the grounds of religion and belief (WGB). In Europe, it would fall under Article 9 (freedom of religion and belief) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Vegan workwear law employers: possible exceptions
And even if it were recognized, exceptions will always exist. The British Royal Air Force is looking for alternatives to belts, boots, and hats. In many cases those alternatives exist, but I can imagine that this is not always possible.
An employer will always have to weigh interests. There may be reasons such as safety or extremely high costs. Think of a specific type of safety shoe made of leather for which no alternatives exist. In that case, safety takes precedence over the employee’s belief.
I expect vegan workwear will gradually come up more often in organizations. Especially when people realize they have the right to it. But before we can be certain, there will need to be lawsuits first. Or, like the British RAF, you simply change your policy. For large employers this will probably not be a big problem. But whether local retailers will go along with it, I doubt. Time will tell.
Greetings,
Aileen