Clean Shave Or Quit Work: Over 100 Sikhs Lose Jobs Over Toronto's New 'No Beard' Mandate

More than 100 Sikh security guards who, until very recently, were stationed at City of Toronto properties have been laid off since April, relocated, or demoted to lower-ranking positions for having too much facial hair. Yes, it's the 21st century, and these diktats are still running!

World Sikh Organisation's statement

Following this, the World Sikh Organisation of Canada (WSO) put out a call-to-action statement on Monday, urging the city to rectify the issue. They claim that many Sikh workers have been laid off or sent to different work sites by contractors like GardaWorld, Star Security, and ASP Security.

The organisation has called upon Mayor John Tory and City Council to lift the new clean shave requirement, specifically for Sikh employees "who maintain uncut hair as a tenet of their faith."

PRESS RELEASE: CITY OF TORONTO NO-BEARDS RULE FORCES OUT SIKH SECURITY GUARDS

Read the full press release -https://t.co/z6qx8vVN5u

¡ª WSO (@WorldSikhOrg) July 4, 2022

"It is completely unreasonable that Sikh security guards who served in their positions at the City of Toronto through the height of the pandemic are now being terminated, reassigned, or demoted for not being clean-shaven," says WSO President Tejinder Singh Sidhu.

What does the mandate say?

The City of Toronto mandates that security guards working at the city shelter and respite sites must be clean-shaven to be able to wear a tight-fitting N95 mask in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak. City staff had been inspecting work sites and deducting billable hours from contracted security companies for having employees who were not clean-shaven.

sikh-canada

"The new City of Toronto mandate requires all security guards to be fitted for N95 respirators that seal directly on the face. Facial hair is not permitted when performing fit tests," explains the organization, which contends that the policy results in "the exclusion of Sikh security guards" from city-owned sites. Strangely, the WSO, and non-security staff at these same sites have not been asked to shave.

What has the City of Toronto said?

In an email to the Star, City of Toronto spokesperson Erin Whitton said the guards who lost their jobs at city sites were contractors, not the city's own corporate security staff.

The City of Toronto and all of its contractors must uphold human rights and fully comply with all relevant legislation and City policy.

I firmly believe that no person should be discriminated against for their religious beliefs. pic.twitter.com/w6tnkDgD2B

¡ª John Tory (@TorontosMayor) July 5, 2022

Whitton said the city is "reviewing the certain complaint contractors failed to accommodate their employees." This comes after a month of correspondence from the WSO to the city about the issue.

To security guard, Birkawal Singh Anand, being asked to shave his beard is akin to asking a non-Sikh to "peel off their skin." So, when forced to choose last month between keeping his beard or keeping his job working at a City of Toronto respite site, there was no need to deliberate.

"I told them I belong to the Sikh community; shaving is not an option for me," Anand said.

Representational Image

Anand said he offered to wear a mask covering his whole beard but was told that wasn't an option. "They said, 'If you want to work here, you have to be shaved,'" he said.

As a result, Anand was removed from his schedule at the respite site and placed on a "formal lay off."

What about the city's accommodation policy?

However, both the COVID info sheet and the city's accommodation policy state that religious accommodations can be made for employees unable to shave, to be determined by the employee's supervisor ¡ª the contractors, in the case of the Sikh guards.

Accommodations can involve the employee purchasing equipment, modifying some of the duties or hours of the job, or reassigning the employee.

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