Headscarves and crucifixes can be banned in workplace

The EU’s top legal counsel, Juliane Kokott, has said that companies can impose dress codes that ban religious clothing.The European Court of Justice’s advocate general issued the opinion, saying that employers can legally ban workers from wearing headscarves, crucifixes and other religious clothing.Such dress codes are legal in the EU as long as they apply to all faiths and political views equally, she said.Kokott’s opinion usually gives a strong indication of how Europe’s top court will eventually rule in the case of security firm G4S, which fired a Belgian Muslim receptionist who wanted to cover her head.