The Biblical position on Sabbath working is clear: except for works of necessity and mercy, no such work is to be done, for the whole Day is to be devoted to the public and private exercises of God’s worship. But what about the legal position? As far as the UK is concerned, sadly the law of the land is far from being in agreement with the law of the Lord. At a Christians at Work conference in London in July, a Christian barrister, Mr Paul Diamond, surveyed both British and and European law. Amazingly there is no general legal provision covering Sabbath working. Indeed, “There are no statutory provisions safeguarding the rights of Christians. There is statutory protection for people of some other faiths under the Race Relations Acts. But Christians, who are not regarded in law as a minority in need of protection, fall into a gap.”
This is of great concern of course, for many employees are being asked to work on Sabbaths or to accept revised contracts which are drafted to include unjustifiable Sabbath working. If an employee refuses to sign such a contract, and is then dismissed, what can be done? This very thing happened to Mr Andrew Dutton, who also spoke at the Conference. He was dismissed for refusing to sign such a new contract. On legal advice, he took a case of Unfair Dismissal against his employer to an Industrial Tribunal, and won. After 14 months of unemployment, happily he has been re-instated, with a special contract giving him the option not to work on Sabbaths.
However, for such a case to be successful, the employee has to show that the employer behaved unreasonably when dismissing him. The Tribunal system can be frustrating and lengthy, and the outcome is by no means certain. In the absence of detailed statutory provision concerning Sabbath work, the legal position will be established only as one case after another is decided. Mr Diamond concludes, “The more cases which arise, the more clear the legal position will become regarding the rights of Christians not to work on Sundays.” Although legal rights may be unclear, Biblical duties are very clear. Perhaps the people of God may be called upon to suffer temporal loss, but it is certain that the Lord will not forget any Christian employee who remembers the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
K.M.W., Clerk pro-tem, Sabbath Observance Committee