A general ban on headscarves in the civil service, for example for female judges, teachers or police officers, is not constitutionally permissible. The Federal Constitutional Court confirmed this once again in January 2023 and did not allow a lawsuit by the state of Berlin. Such a ban is currently still in force in Berlin, and this law must now be amended.
How the legal situation is in the private sector, the “Mediendienst Integration” has currently compiled. According to this, the ban on wearing a headscarf in the workplace violates the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). Wearing a headscarf may also not be the reason for denying female applicants a training position or a job. For factual reasons, an employer may prohibit the headscarf in the workplace, for example, if wearing a headscarf makes working with machines too dangerous. A headscarf ban in the workplace can also be justified if the employer also prohibits the wearing of all other political, philosophical or religious signs in order to maintain neutrality in the workplace. However, this only applies to activities that are representative of the company. Employers must give good reasons for such decisions in individual cases—a blanket ban on headscarves is not possible. This was clarified in a 2017 ruling by the European Court of Justice and confirmed in the renewed 2021 and 2022 rulings.
Further information:
https://mediendienst-integration.de/gruppen/islam-und-muslime.html#c2057
Anyone affected by discrimination due to a headscarf ban can contact the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency:
Antidiskriminierungsstelle – Jetzt Kontakt aufnehmen
tun23030105
www.tuenews.de
Ein pauschales Kopftuchverbot auf der Arbeit ist nicht zulässig. Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL / Vanesa Baranyaiova
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