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Employment Equity Legislation and Policy

TheEmployment Equality Act1998 and theEqual Status Act2000 outlaw discrimination in employment, vocational training, advertising, collective agreements, the provision of goods and services and other opportunities to which the public generally have access. TheEmployment Equality Act1998 prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination in relation to employment on nine grounds, one of which is gender. Direct discrimination occurs when one person is treated less favourably than another is. Indirect discrimination on grounds of gender occurs when practices or policies appear non-discriminatory but in fact disadvantage a substantially higher proportion of persons of one gender compared with the other gender, unless the policy it is appropriate and necessary and can be justified by objective factors unrelated to gender. Significantly, the 1998 Act introduced an Equality Review, which is an audit of the level of equality of opportunity that exists in employment and an examination of the practices, procedures and other relevant factors to determine whether they are conducive to the promotion of equality of opportunity.

Equal Pay

TheAnti-Discrimination (Pay) Act1974, now superceded by theEmployment Equality Act1998, is widely recognized as one of the most important pieces of legislation to impact on the gender pay gap. The Act established the right of men and women employed in the same place on like work by the same employer to equal pay. At the time of its enactment, the focus was on the overt discrimination that existed whereby in many employments male wages were higher than female wages for the same or similar work or for work of equal value. While the Act made significant strides in addressing such discrimination and led to some closing of the gap, it did not address questions of discrimination related to, for example, promotion and other issues.

All aspects of employment are now covered in theEmployment Equity Actincluding equal pay, access to employment, vocational training, conditions of employment, work experiences, promotion and dismissal. The legislation applies to public and private sector employment. An objective of theEmployment Equity Actis to ensure equal remuneration between persons or a group of persons for "like work". Like work is defined as the same, similar or work of equal value. Equal pay for like work is made a term of every employment contract. Like work is shown by comparing the work of the claimant with another person (comparator) working for the same, or an associated, employer, either at the same time as the claimant, or during the previous or following three years. The comparator does not have to be employed in the same place as the claimant. The Act codifies indirect discrimination in relation to pay for the first time in Irish law. An employer may show by way of defence that there are grounds, other than those purely related to the sex of a person, for different rates of pay.

TheEmployment Equality Act1998 defines sexual harassment as unwanted physical intimacy, requests for sexual favours, spoken words and gestures and the display or circulation of written words, pictures or other materials in the workplace. Unwelcome requests or conduct that could reasonably be regarded as sexually or otherwise on the gender ground, offensive, humiliating or intimidating, shall constitute sexual harassment.

Employers are liable for the acts of employees done in the course of employment, whether or not the acts were done with the employer's knowledge, if they do not take reasonable steps to prevent such harassment. An employer is also liable for acts of agents of the company.

Maternity and Pregnancy

TheMaternity Protection Act1994 provides protection for all pregnant employees, and for employees who have recently given birth or who are breastfeeding. A review of the Act was carried out by the Maternity Protection Review Group in 2000. TheMaternity Protection (Amendment) Billwas published and once it is enacted, it will strengthen employment protection for pregnant employees. The Bill will increase the maternity leave entitlement to 26 weeks, 18 of which are paid and 8 weeks of which are unpaid. The entitlement under the 1994 Act is 14 weeks paid and 4 weeks unpaid. The Government also approved further recommendations from the Review Group which require the preparation of primary legislation and subsequent regulations.

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