The Confrontation Between Religious Rights and Other Fundamental Rights in the Realm of Labor Relations: Religious Freedom in Relation to the Right to Non-discrimination, Freedom of Association and the Right to Sexual Orientation

Roxana Cristina RADU
Assoc. Prof. PhD.
Faculty of Law, University of Craiova;
E-mail: roxanacristina.radu@yahoo.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1574-7938
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59277/CSNPISSH.2025.15

Copyright (c) 2025.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Published on December 28, 2025

Abstract
Religious freedom includes the right of any individual to change his or her religion or beliefs at any time and also the right to put into practice his or her religious or atheistic thoughts and beliefs. This also includes the right to non-discrimination, the right to wear religious clothing or symbols, the right to speak about one’s beliefs and opinions, to form a trade union or to participate in a religious worship. Public authorities and employers cannot prevent individuals from practicing their religion, without a very good reason, under the conditions of law. This article analyzes the tensions that have arisen between secularism and religious manifestations in public space and in labor relations, the role of the European Court of Human Rights in protecting religious freedom and the confrontation between religious rights and other fundamental rights (the right to non-discrimination, freedom of association in trade union organizations and the right to sexual orientation).

Keyword
religious freedom, pluralism, non-discrimination, fundamental rights, sexual orientation, labor relations

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