I read some information about the EU ruling to allow companies to ban the wearing of religious symbols or garments in the workplace, and this was particularly interesting to see how companies now have the ability to prevent individuals from expressing their individual religion or identity in a 'public' space. While the workplace is technically private space as it is owned by a company, it is public for the people within it, as they are away from their own private sphere and presenting themselves to others. Here are some points I gathered from what I read: 

  

1. Welcomed by politicians on the Right – the right wing is more opposed to freedom of religious expression 
2. The rule allows companies the right to ban wearing religious garments in the workplace – whether to do this or not is at the company’s discretion  
3. Women wearing headscarves could be banned, but only as part of a general policy, banning Christian or other religious symbols too 
4. Prevents customers of a business from requesting religious symbols to be removed – it must be a policy adopted by the company themselves 
5. Despite covering all religious symbolism, it seems to particularly focus on Islam, as it comes at a time when ‘Muslim immigration has been a contentious issue.’ 
6. In the EU religion is highly politicized. The prevalence of terror attacks are fueling Islamophobia across Europe, and some see religious garments such as the Burka as a 'threat to security', which caused protests calling for the garments to be banned. By banning all religious symbolism in the workplace, a company is not discriminating directly against Islam, but Islamophobia could be the motive for companies to adopt the policy, as suggested by the political context.  
7. France – Francois Fillion, a presidential candidate, claims that the ruling would bring relief to companies and their workers, stating that the ruling would help create ‘social peace’. He is known to disapprove of Islam’s place in France, and these statements suggest that he sees Islam as a threat to social peace, therefore wants to ban signs of it from public space. 

  

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/mar/14/employers-can-ban-staff-from-wearing-headscarves-european-court-rules