WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Does legislation explicitly prohibit indirect discrimination on the basis of religion?

The term “religion” includes references to ‘creed’, ‘religious belief’, ‘religious opinion’, ‘religious adherence’, ‘religious community’ or ‘confession’. For the purposes of this variable, the term “religion” captures all of these definitions.

Indirect discrimination indicates a prohibition of imposing standards, criteria, or other requirements that disproportionately impact persons on the basis of religion and have the effect of discrimination on this basis. In these cases, legislation either explicitly prohibits indirect discrimination, or prohibits the imposition of unreasonable requirements that particularly disadvantage persons on the basis of religion. Legislative prohibitions of indirect discrimination may extend across any aspect of work, or specific aspects of work such as hiring.

No prohibition means that legislation does not take an explicit approach to prohibiting indirect discrimination on the basis of religion. This does not mean that legislation denies this guarantee.

General prohibition of indirect discrimination means that legislation prohibits indirect discrimination generally— for example, by prohibiting indirect discrimination based on “any status” or stating no worker may be indirectly discriminated against. This general prohibition is not specifically extended on the basis of religion.

Yes, prohibition on the basis of religion means that legislation extends an explicit prohibition of indirect discrimination on the basis of religion.

Countries

Afghanistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Algeria - No indirect discrimination provisions

Angola - No indirect discrimination provisions

Antigua and Barbuda - No indirect discrimination provisions

Argentina - No indirect discrimination provisions

Australia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bahamas - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bahrain - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bangladesh - No indirect discrimination provisions

Belarus - No indirect discrimination provisions

Belize - No indirect discrimination provisions

Benin - No indirect discrimination provisions

Bolivia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Botswana - No indirect discrimination provisions

Brazil - No indirect discrimination provisions

Brunei - No indirect discrimination provisions

Burkina Faso - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cambodia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cameroon - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cabo Verde - No indirect discrimination provisions

Central African Republic - No indirect discrimination provisions

Chad - No indirect discrimination provisions

Chile - No indirect discrimination provisions

China - No indirect discrimination provisions

Colombia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Comoros - No indirect discrimination provisions

Democratic Republic of the Congo - No indirect discrimination provisions

Republic of the Congo - No indirect discrimination provisions

Costa Rica - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cote d'Ivoire - No indirect discrimination provisions

Cuba - No indirect discrimination provisions

Djibouti - No indirect discrimination provisions

Dominica - No indirect discrimination provisions

Dominican Republic - No indirect discrimination provisions

Ecuador - No indirect discrimination provisions

Egypt - No indirect discrimination provisions

El Salvador - No indirect discrimination provisions

Eritrea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Ethiopia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Gabon - No indirect discrimination provisions

The Gambia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Ghana - No indirect discrimination provisions

Greenland - No indirect discrimination provisions

Grenada - No indirect discrimination provisions

Guatemala - No indirect discrimination provisions

Guinea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Guinea-Bissau - No indirect discrimination provisions

Haiti - No indirect discrimination provisions

Honduras - No indirect discrimination provisions

India - No indirect discrimination provisions

Indonesia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Iran - No indirect discrimination provisions

Iraq - No indirect discrimination provisions

Israel - No indirect discrimination provisions

Jamaica - No indirect discrimination provisions

Japan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Jordan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Kazakhstan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Republic of Korea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Kuwait - No indirect discrimination provisions

Kyrgyzstan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Lebanon - No indirect discrimination provisions

Lesotho - No indirect discrimination provisions

Libya - No indirect discrimination provisions

Liechtenstein - No indirect discrimination provisions

Madagascar - No indirect discrimination provisions

Malawi - No indirect discrimination provisions

Malaysia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Maldives - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mali - No indirect discrimination provisions

Marshall Islands - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mauritania - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mexico - No indirect discrimination provisions

Micronesia, Federated States of - No indirect discrimination provisions

Monaco - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mongolia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Morocco - No indirect discrimination provisions

Mozambique - No indirect discrimination provisions

Myanmar - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nauru - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nepal - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nicaragua - No indirect discrimination provisions

Niger - No indirect discrimination provisions

Nigeria - No indirect discrimination provisions

Oman - No indirect discrimination provisions

Pakistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Palau - No indirect discrimination provisions

Panama - No indirect discrimination provisions

Papua New Guinea - No indirect discrimination provisions

Paraguay - No indirect discrimination provisions

The Philippines - No indirect discrimination provisions

Qatar - No indirect discrimination provisions

Rwanda - No indirect discrimination provisions

San Marino - No indirect discrimination provisions

Saudi Arabia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Senegal - No indirect discrimination provisions

Seychelles - No indirect discrimination provisions

Sierra Leone - No indirect discrimination provisions

Singapore - No indirect discrimination provisions

Solomon Islands - No indirect discrimination provisions

Somalia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Sri Lanka - No indirect discrimination provisions

St. Kitts and Nevis - No indirect discrimination provisions

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - No indirect discrimination provisions

Sudan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Suriname - No indirect discrimination provisions

Switzerland - No indirect discrimination provisions

Syria - No indirect discrimination provisions

Tajikistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Thailand - No indirect discrimination provisions

Tonga - No indirect discrimination provisions

Trinidad and Tobago - No indirect discrimination provisions

Tunisia - No indirect discrimination provisions

Turkmenistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

United Arab Emirates - No indirect discrimination provisions

Uruguay - No indirect discrimination provisions

Uzbekistan - No indirect discrimination provisions

Vanuatu - No indirect discrimination provisions

Venezuela - No indirect discrimination provisions

Vietnam - No indirect discrimination provisions

Yemen - No indirect discrimination provisions

Laos - General prohibition of indirect discrimination

Albania - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Andorra - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Armenia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Austria - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Azerbaijan - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Barbados - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Belgium - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Bhutan - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Bulgaria - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Burundi - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Canada - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Croatia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Cyprus - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Czech Republic - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Denmark - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Equatorial Guinea - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Estonia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Fiji - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Finland - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

France - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Georgia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Germany - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Greece - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Guyana - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Hungary - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Iceland - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Ireland - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Italy - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Kenya - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Kiribati - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Latvia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Liberia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Lithuania - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Luxembourg - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

North Macedonia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Malta - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Mauritius - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Moldova - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Montenegro - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Namibia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

The Netherlands - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

New Zealand - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Norway - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Peru - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Poland - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Portugal - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Romania - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Russian Federation - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Samoa - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Sao Tome and Principe - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Serbia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Slovakia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Slovenia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

South Africa - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

South Sudan - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Spain - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

St. Lucia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Eswatini - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Sweden - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Tanzania - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Timor-Leste - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Togo - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Türkiye - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Tuvalu - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Uganda - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Ukraine - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

United Kingdom - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

United States of America - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Zambia - Yes, religion-specific prohibition

Zimbabwe - Yes, religion-specific prohibition