Britain's bosses have been told to bring back Christmas to the workplace and stop worrying about offending other faiths.

Festive parties, cards and the Lord's Prayer should all be a feature of Christmas in the office or on the factory floor, David Isaac, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has said.

He said laws had been misinterpreted as employers became over-sensitive to other faiths and called for a "common sense" approach.

"Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right and shouldn't be suppressed through fear of offending," he said.

"Lots of employers have now become really worried about doing anything discriminatory regarding their Muslim or Jewish staff."


Mr Isaac said employers were sometimes driven to "extreme and disproportionate behaviour" which "could produce some sort of resentment about special treatment".

He said: "There are a lot of myths out there when it comes to dealing with religion at work. I want to put the record straight.

"It is OK to hold a party and send Christmas cards.

"Most Muslims and Jews that I know adhere to their own religious beliefs of course, but to some extent acknowledge that Christmas happens and to some extent, with a small 'c', celebrate it.

"This is people's lived experience and we need to reflect it."

Mr Isaac said employers could decide to provide facilities for special religious diets and some were concerned it would be unlawful not to provide two microwaves for different kinds of food such as pork.

But he told The Sunday Times: "You have to have a balanced debate about what is proportionate. You don't need to have two microwaves."

The Government's integration tsar Dame Louise Casey said recently that the celebration of Christmas was among British traditions that needed to be defended to stop social divisions.

She gave an example where "an incredibly well-meaning white manager" of a community centre referred to a Christmas tree as a "festive tree" in case he offended Muslims.