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In May last year, the municipal board of the Bromölla municipality decided to introduce a ban on praying during working hours. “Prayer time is not allowed during paid working hours,” the guidelines on work and religion said.
The provision would apply to all people with the municipality as an employer, regardless of their religious affiliation. The Swedish Democrats, who rule in the municipality, as well as the moderates, the Christian Democrats and the local Alternativet party voted for the guidelines.
Friday repealed The Malmö Administrative Court banned, referring to the fact that it is contrary to the provisions on religious freedom that exist in the form of government and the European Convention.
– Freedom of religion does not mean, in principle, that an employee can refuse to perform tasks that are normally included in work. However, the way in which the practice of religion affects work must be testable in each individual case. The municipality’s guideline is designed as a blanket ban, with no possibility of evaluation in the individual case, says Councilor Henrik Hedberg in a press release.
The municipality of Bromölla has in court it meant that it should not be perceived as a total prohibition, but that there should be room for individual interpretation and evaluations within the framework of the guideline. The administrative court disagreed.
– It has not been considered that the decided guideline provides such scope, so it has not affected the judicial review that the municipality has subsequently declared that individual evaluations must be carried out. The examination has been based on what is actually stated in the decision, and as the decision is formulated, the assessment is that it is contrary to the provisions on religious freedom, Henrik Hedberg says in the press release.
Read more: Parties and voters divide when religious freedom is at the forefront
