What do you think about M & S allowing muslims not to serve people with pork and alcohol?

[blackbull]

Their facebook page has been inundated with vitriolic responses to this with thousands of people saying they will boycott M & S stores. People are saying that Christian staff shouldn't have to serve transvestites with women's underwear. Have M & S dug a big hole for themselves?.

[Ralph T]

If anyone has religious objections to doing the job they were hired to perform,then they should not have applied for the job.
They can either serve a customers order or they can quit.

[Lord Britannia]

M and S has dug themselves into a hole in more ways than one. They've been in and out of financial hot water for a few years now. Logistically for a retailer to do this is a nightmare for them. Because the Muslim serving will need to be taken off and on a till or whatever all the time. This is impractical and M and S profits will suffer for this in the sense that customers will grow tired of service dogged by delay and inefficiency. But what you say is truehttp://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/m-faces-furious-backlash-customers-174843463.html
This will be a PR disaster for them

[Margaret A]

well I should imagine if a vegetarian wanted a job at fast food establishment with the proviso they didn't want to serve burgers/meat products because of there beliefs they wouldn't get the job. so I can understand why people would be up in arms about this.
we all have beliefs but needs must when the devil bites you on the backside.

[Roger the Dodger]

Stupid decision. Since M&S sell pork products and alcohol, anyone choosing to work for them must be prepared to serve them.

[Obamavenger]

I can't speak for pork but there seem to be a lot of Arabs and Sikhs running liquor stores in my area.

They don't have to eat or drink it but it they want to work in a business that serves it to customers they should plan on serving it to customers.

[SayItRight]

Fine as long as i don't have to prepare or serve meat in any job i choose to apply for since i am a vegetarian,actually i wouldn't even expect that,if i apply for a job i expect that i will have to carry out all of the duties involved,the only exceptions should be reasonable adaptions made for those who are disabled.

What next i wonder,do they make sure people who can't have children don't need to sell baby related products? Will Jehovah witnesses be excused from selling Christmas stock and athiests be excused from selling all things easter related?

What about those who have had a relationship end? Shall they be excused from selling anything to do with Valentines day as it may upset them?

It's utter stupidity,i know jobs are thin on the ground but that is even more reason to be accepting of the duties involved in the ones that you can get,no one is forcing them to eat or drink the produce!

[435]

It's stupid. If Moslem staff are worried these substances might come into contact with their skin, then they should just wear latex or vinyl gloves and get on with the job they were hired to do. I was once a paperboy for a Moslem shopkeeper who sold bacon, and he had no problem with putting the packets into the fridge with his bare hands on the basis that they were sealed, so he wasn't handling anything haraam.

[Richard B]

?? if a devote muslim does not want to touch pork , they cannot work in a general butcher shop
the Jews sometimes "keep Kosher" which is similar
Hindus have rules about killing and eating cattle.

in the USA shops are not allowed to serve rat meat! All though I guess they could if the customers wanted it.

[Clive]

M&S have apologised and admitted that on this occasion, they didn't follow their own instructions, which clearly say that if a member of staff has a problem with certain products, they won't be given a job that involves handling them. Some manager goofed by putting this member of staff on a food till, or the member of staff failed to tell their manager that they don't want to handle pork and alcohol. No store is perfect.

What I don't understand is why this member of staff applied for a job with a store that they surely know sells products they object to.