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Muslim checkout staff can
refuse to sell drink
UK
Daily Mail
Monday October 01, 2007
Muslim supermarket checkout staff have been given the right
to refuse to sell alcohol to customers.
At least one chain has allowed workers to call in a colleague
to take their place when customers are buying beer, wine or spirits.
Those with religious objections to selling drink have been asked
to raise their hands so that a colleague can step in.
Staff have also been allowed to avoid stacking shelves with alcohol.
The system by which a checkout worker can raise their hand to
avoid selling alcohol - much in the same way staff under 18 have
to raise their hand to get the permission of a supervisor to sell
drink - has been introduced by Sainsbury's.
The chain operates the practice at at least one store in North
London, where one checkout worker is regularly replaced by Muslim
colleagues who are prepared to sell alcohol and handle packages
or bottles containing it.
(Article continues below)
Sainsbury's said yesterday that it operates a 'flexible' system
in which store managers make their own decisions on what practices
suit the needs of staff and the demands of trade.
A spokesman said: "We are flexible and we will accommodate
religious needs as far as we can. We don't have a hard and fast
rule."
Muslim groups praised the store for its understanding of religious
needs.
Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim
Council of Britain, said: "By selling alcohol you are not
committing a sin. You are just doing the job you are paid for.
"Muslim employees have a duty to their employer and in supermarkets
most people would accept that in selling alcohol you are merely
passing it through a checkout. That is hardly going to count against
you on the day of judgement."
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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