Changing opinions of committees of equal treatment and legal decisions on religious civil servants in the Netherlands

In this paper we will look at some basic tensions on the Dutch labour market related to religious diversity. We will look at the The individual cluster private/public sector situations can be distinguished); private sector:headscarf cases, pious Christian airline assistant wants to wear a crucifix on the job or the dismissal, time-off requests. public sector: marriage registrars who refuse to officiate over same-sex partnerships/marriages. And at the collective cluster. These are cases involving religious-ethos employers/faith–based employers who can lay claim on a competing religious freedom. Here there are tensions, sometimes clashes between collective autonomy (practices of majority or minority religious organisations and associations that are protected by collective religious freedoms) and other rights and interests (e.g. non-discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation).