The Mirror – Refusing entry without A mask – Elissa Comments

The Mirror – Refusing Entre Without A Mask – Elissa Comments…

Last Week The Daily Post contacted HR Anchor’s Elissa Thursfield for the legal stance on being refused entry to a shop for not wearing a mask even when displaying an official NHS lanyard showing exemption.  Click here to read our previous article.

Yesterday The Mirror shared the article titled “Man refused entry in shop for not wearing a face mask despite being exempt”, click here to view.

Elissa’s response below

“Generally premises have the power to dictate that customers follow certain rules for health and safety on their premises. Whilst in England the requirement to wear a mask has been removed, the Government has allowed venues to make their own decisions on whether to continue the practice.

In Wales the mask rules remain in place for now. The exemption lanyards have been a sticky subject for a long while now. They are controversial in some respect as there are no checks on whether those who have them are eligible, as they can be freely downloaded from the internet.

Ultimately a blanket policy of ‘no mask no entrance’ may on the face of it be discriminatory. This would be on the basis of indirect discrimination, a blanket neutral policy applied to everyone, that places disadvantaged groups at a detriment. In this circumstance the ‘detriment’ would be refusal of access to the premises. The disadvantaged groups being people who due to health reasons are unable to wear a mask.

That said, indirect discrimination can be defended if it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. So, for example, if a shop keeper decided that masks were compulsory due to the risk assessment that has been conducted in the shop, to keep visitors safe, that could be classed as proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

There are a multitude of different types of face coverings that have been on the market for a while to try and combat the difficulties facing those who cannot wear masks, however it remains a very contentious subject and likely to be more so with the relaxing of the rules in England and the wave of tourists arriving for the summer.”

 

Elissa later added that the store had made ‘reasonable adjustments’ by offering to bring goods outside for the customer.

 

For the original Daily Post article titled “Man with mask exemption due to heart failure told to leave North Wales shop despite wearing lanyard” can be viewed by clicking on this link.