I thought Australians were more liberal than this.

[no1_vern]

But I guess not. Apparently praying while at work is a reason for dismissal.

Here:
http://news.excite.com/odd/article/i...2|reuters.html

[daveleau]

I do not believe they should be fired, but he should make up the time he took out ofr prayer by staying late or coming in early or using his break time to do it. That is only the right thing to do. Firing him for his religion is just wrong. Noone should be kept from praying anywhere they like, whether it is Islamic prayer or Christian prayer and no matter if it is at work or at school or at a high school football game.

I think you are complimenting Australia though by saying they are not liberal though. I know calling me liberal would be like slapping me in the face. I know what you meant though.

[Brainchild]

Firing him for his religion is just wrong. Noone should be kept from praying anywhere they like, whether it is Islamic prayer or Christian prayer and no matter if it is at work or at school or at a high school football game.

I agree Dave.
If it was the first time, he should have gotten a warning, and make up the time.IMO

[pickel]

People waste more time sitting in the restroom reading the news paper and BSing around the water cooler. As much as I'm maybe a little prejudiced and suspicious since 9/11, I feel if a man wants to commume with his God, so be it. With the additudes like that , I would expect he needed to pray more than the rest of us.

That's abit rough, I reckon. The company concerned is a fairly well respected company here. Can't see why they would do such a thing, unless there is more to it than meets the eye.

Even if he is a muslim he should still have rights same as everybody.

Cheers
Mick

[no1_vern]

Hi Dave,
well yes, I didnt mean "liberal" in that sense.

AND he did offer to make up the time -

QUOTE

"The union movement said El-Masri had offered to make up the time lost by working an extra 10 minutes at the end of the day."


As reported by his union no less.

Since the offer to make up lost time was presented, the corporation should have accepted his praying time as part of the employee's religious customs. Unless the employee was unsatisfactory for some other reason, I believe he should still be working. A few minutes of personal time is not going to affect company efficiency.

And btw, anyone here can call me a "liberal" anytime, though most probably know that by know.

Robert Richmond

[Epidemic]

If they give other employees smoking breaks then he should have the time.

If they do not then he should have his breaks scheduled around his commune with god. If austrailia is like the US then he gets breaks every so many hours. That is his time to do what he wants.

As far as making up the time at the end of the day well that really depends on the type of job.

If this is an assembly line well it is obvious that he can't make up the time.