Complaints under the Employment Equality Acts must be brought within 6 months of the act of discrimination. You should make your complaint using the complaint form on the Workplace Relations Commission website. The completed form should be returned to Workplace Relations Commission.

What is discrimination in the workplace in Ireland ? / What would be considered discrimination?

Discrimination is where one person is treated less favourably than another person is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on any of the grounds referred to the discriminatory grounds. It is must be because of one of the grounds mentioned in the above paragraph.

So, for example, the discrimination must be related to one of the grounds such as a disability. If one was treated unfairly at work which was connected to a disability, such as, epilepsy, this would constitute discrimination which is not permitted by the legislation and exposes an employer to potential liability if it arises.

What are 3 examples of discrimination?

1. If a female employee is treated unfairly due to gender;
2. If an employee with a disability is treated unfairly which is connected to having the disability;
3. If an employee is treated unfairly due to their race.

It is common in workplace disputes that the trust which once existed between the parties ie employer and employee evaporates.

An employer makes the decision to terminate an employees employment while on sick leave, due to workplace absence or for failing to submit sickness certificates, for example. The employer does not believe the employee’s reason for absence is given and dismisses the employee and thereafter a discriminatory dismissal legal action commences.

In the employers reasoning, they acted fairly, the employee was not telling the truth, but the employer may find themselves legally exposed.  

In the employees view they were out on leave with workplace stress while on certified sick leave.

An employee then feels discriminated against and the employee potentially has the option of taking an unfair dismissal claim under the Unfair Dismissal Acts but elects to take a discriminatory dismissal action under the Equality Acts.

The rationale for this is that the employee was operating under a disability ie the illness at the time they were dismissed, and the employer did not afford them with what is termed reasonable accommodation as a consequence of having a disability.

In such a workplace dispute before a dismissal arises, it would be very beneficial for the employer to obtain legal advice before they act and dismiss the employee.  

If an employee submits a sickness certificate citing the employee has workplace stress, and/or if the medical professional engaged by the employer also concludes same, it is imprudent for an employer to write to the employee indicating they do not believe or accept the absence is due to workplace stress and the absence reason is due to the employee seeking to avoid a workplace issue and then ending the employees employment with immediate effect.

If an employee were to take such a claim under the Equality Acts, and successful, the WRC can make an order of up to 2 years of the employee’s salary by way of compensation.

The Equality Acts prohibit discrimination, which occurs when one person is treated less favourably than another is due to the fact they have a disability. There are also other categories of discrimination that are prohibited, but this post is confined to discussing discrimination in connection with a disability.

If a person has a disability, the employer must take steps to allow an employee access to employment, participate in the employment unless there is a disproportionate burden on the employer. An employee with a disability must be afforded reasonable accommodation in the workplace as a consequence of having the disability.

Before sending an employee a letter of dismissal in this scenario, an employer should give the employee a chance to be heard once the employee is notified dismissal is being considered, or risk not succeeding in their defence against a discriminatory dismissal claim.

The Equality Act of 1998 has been revised over the years and here is the revised version as of the 31st of May 2004 seen here.

Cleary & Co. Solicitors, Litigation Law Firm 

Kieran Cleary and Roger Cleary Employment Law Solicitors can help with questions you may have regarding employment law matters and our numbers are (01) 546 1121 or  (052) 612 1999 or our email address is info@clearysolicitors.com

Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad outline of the topic discussed. It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute.

Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.