Should conscientious objection be a defence to breach of equality law Essay

Should conscientious objection be a defence to breach of equality law - Essay Example Anti-Racism laws, which are a reflection of the equality law were designed to provide a remedy to the failure by the State to not do enough to protect disadvantaged member of the society.2 The United Kingdom’s Equality Act of 2010, which is part of the wider anti-discrimination laws of Great Britain, is based on the premise of the State impacting upon the UK society through legislation to educate and instruct individuals as well as institutions on how to act during public interactions.3 The Equality Law simply requires citizens to be blind on differences to do with sexuality, race, gender, and age. Secondly, it requires citizens to be deaf on differences arising from belief or religion. However, under the concept of conscientious objection, there are seemingly exceptions to the adherence of the equality law.4 Conscientious objection has been described as â€Å"a refusal on religious or moral grounds to engage in military conflict or even serve in the armed forces.†5 A conscientious objection is normally based on religious beliefs that are obtained from trainings and must be highly upheld. A conscientious objector must prove that the newly acquired ethical and moral convictions are what direct his or her life choices. Under the English law, there are only three instances where there are legal rights to objections based on conscientious objections. These instances comprise of abortion cases, application of technological process in achieving conception/ pregnancy, and in services of the armed forces.6 Other cases examples on the application of conscientious objections are when a pharmacists declines to administer emergency contraceptives owing to his religious beliefs or when an employee breaks health and safety rules or dress codes or displays religious symbols at the work place, wh ich is an infringement upon the rights of others. Based on the above review, conscientious objection should not be used as defence for breaching the equality law since it will provide

Historical Impact on Working Conditions (HR, Employee Labor and Research Paper - 1

Historical Impact on Working Conditions (HR, Employee Labor and Relations) - Research Paper Example The momentum of ‘cotton culture’ took off with deployment of large number of Black slaves. In 1790, it is estimated that 700,000 slave workers lived around Ohio River and Mason-Dixon Line (Reef, 2007, pp. XVI-XIX). Throughout eighteenth century, factories grew rapidly where profit was the chief motive. Without any legislation to protect workers rights, the situation was quite messy for laborers who often had to work 14 hours a day. Laborers often protested, but could not match the power of employers. In 1835, a strike was organized in Philadelphia for 10 hours in a day work. By the end of civil war, factories were more organized in technical terms with better equipments and tools. Coming up of railroads carried the next level of growth momentum. Yet, labors had little say on their workings. After the civil war, the struggle gained momentum from labors, though in unorganized and uncoordinated fashion. With little or no government assistance, it was tough to move forward (Reef, 2007, p. XIX). Although the term ‘collective bargaining’ was initially used in 1891 by economist Sidney Webb, it was introduced in raw form ever since the inception of trade unions soon after the post civil war period. Collective bargaining is a method of arbitration between firm and the agents of a unit of employees intended at arriving at deals that sets operational conditions. Collective agreements normally specify wage amounts, shift hours, training, security, extra hours pay, and rights to take part in factory or corporation issues. Working conditions slowly improved side-by-side with the growth of trade unions. Many labor legislations were passed that set standard rules for hiring and remunerating labors. The first key event in the US labor history was establishment of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886. AFL ran on the form of ‘craft unions’ and was conservative in the sense that it did not challenge capitalism per se. Instead, it was