NRI woman keeps her nose pin and her job

New Delhi: Amrit Lalji could never imagine that her faith could cost her job some day.

The 40-year-old, who worked in the British Airway's VIP lounge at Heathrow Airport has been sacked for refusing to remove her nose pin.

But, in a swift turnaround, the Indian woman has been reinstated by authorities. Her employer, British Airways, has now said that they had misunderstood their own rules!

Lalji was employed as a cleaner and customer relations worker with Eurest UK, a firm supplying food and services to British Airways.

The company admitted that it had misunderstood the rules and said Lalji would be resuming work. It has also said that she can keep wearing her nose pin as she does not work in the catering area.

They had sacked her three months earlier saying that the nose pin was a "breach of their dress code".

Lalji had been working with the company since March 2006, but issue was brought up only three months ago.

“They didn't tell me when I joined that I could not wear the nose pin. Had I known this, I would never have joined. Some girls working with me take off their nose pins as they are scared of losing their job,” she had earlier told CNN-IBN.

She had then refused to comply to the order saying that it had religious significance and signified her married status, after which she was sacked from her job.

When she was sacked a spokesman for Eurest said that Lalji had been made aware of company policy on jewellery that prohibits 'flesh piercings' which can be hazardous to customers. He said ''Mrs Lalji's decision not to return to work without the nose stud contravenes company rules and regulations and she was dismissed."

After Lalji was sacked, Hindu leaders defended her right to wear the stud as a significant part of her faith. The UK Hindu Council had even said, ''It is an integral a part of the Hindu wedding ceremony as is the giving of a wedding ring within a Christian marriage.''

''If the company concerned allows wedding bands, we don't see why she can't wear a tiny nose stud,'' the UK Hindu Council had added in a statement.

Meanwhile, commenting on Lalji's reinstatement, a spokesman for Eurest UK said that the company had discovered that 'the rules relating to facial piercings are mandatory only in catering operations'.

''Though this is not clear in the handbook, which is given to all employees, it is specific in the text of the Company's HR Directory, which is the primary source policy document,'' he was quoted by news agency UNI as saying.

He also added, ''Since Mrs Lalji is not engaged in catering, her dismissal resulted from a misunderstanding of the rules and is therefore unjustified.''

Last year, another Heathrow worker Nadia Eweida was suspended by British Airways for wearing a crucifix but was reinstated after protests from unions, politicians and clerics.

(With inputs from UNI)