Employer Obligations Under The Equality Act 2010

Gavin Moore

PO4 Question 1

The employer’s main obligations under the Employment Equality Act are to:

• Provide a safe, healthy work environment with the required facilities.
• When hiring employees they must abide by the nine grounds and must not discriminate based on:

Race

The employer cannot say no to hiring someone based on the fact they are Chinese, Indian, African or even white.

Gender

An employer cannot base his decision on whether the candidate is a man or a woman when recruiting as this can be sexist and discrimination.

Marital status

Just because the person looking for work is married or not the employer can’t say no based on this status.

Family status

The employer can’t look at whether the person is a family man with a wife and kids or if he has no wife and kids and lives alone when hiring.

Sexual orientation

If the candidate is gay, bisexual or even a lesbian the employer can’t base his decision on this.

Disability

If a person has a disability they should not feel that they will not get the job because of this unless it involves something which requires skill that they don’t have, otherwise, the employer must treat them equal.

Religion

The employees should not be treated differently based on their religious beliefs.

Age

The position should be available for anyone who is between the age of 18 to 65 as long as they are well able to complete the tasks which have to be done.

Member of the travelling community.

If a member of the travelling community is looking for work and is fully qualified he should not be discriminated against just because of his background.

The two main legal acts which underpin it are:

• The Employment Equality Act 1998 (amended 2004)

This covers advertising, equal pay, access to employment, promotion or demotion and dismissal and other issues. This also promotes equality, prohibits discrimination and sexual harassment or harassment, and gives access to people with disabilities participation and training. The Act gives protection to employees in the public and private sector.

• The Equal Status Act 2000 (as amended by the equality act 2004)

The Equal Status Act promotes equality, prohibits certain kinds of discrimination (with some exceptions), prohibits sexual harassment and harassment (on the discriminatory grounds). This covers people who buy goods, use services and facilities and attend educational establishments. The Act also prohibits victimisation and provides that clubs which discriminate may lose their licence to sell alcohol. (www.asti.ie)

PO4 Question 2

The employee’s main obligations under the employment equality act are to:

• Be available for work and provide a good service.

you must be willing to do the work given to you at any time and you must do it to the best of your ability.

• Obey orders from employers

Whatever tasks your employer gives to you must be completed and you must do what they tell you to do without any negativity

• Maintain confidentiality regarding company information

Any information given to you about clients or the business must not be shared outside the workplace as it is company policy that everything remains private.

• Be willing to compensate the employer for any damage caused or wrongful act committed.

If you manage to break something or do something wrong you must confront the manager as soon as possible because if you don’t tell the manager you will come across as being unreliable and not honest which can give you a bad reputation within the workplace.

The two main legal acts which underpin this is:

• The Employment Equality Act 1998 (amended 2004)

This covers advertising, equal pay, access to employment, promotion or demotion and dismissal and other issues. This also promotes equality, prohibits discrimination and sexual harassment or harassment, and gives access to people with disabilities participation and training. The Act gives protection to employees in the public and private sector.

• The Equal Status Act 2000 (as amended by the equality act 2004).

The Equal Status Act promotes equality, prohibits certain kinds of discrimination (with some exceptions), prohibits sexual harassment and harassment (on the discriminatory grounds). This covers people who buy goods, use services and facilities and attend educational establishments. The Act also prohibits victimisation and provides that clubs which discriminate may lose their licence to sell alcohol. (www.asti.ie)

PO4 Question 3

An example of workplace discrimination would be racial discrimination. This can take place when an employee of a certain race is paid less than the other employees or if they receive unfavourable treatment within the workplace. The problem can be noticed through unfair policies and dismissal without a certain reason. The employer can take positive action by coming to the person who is being discriminated against and find the people responsible for this and fire them immediately. These acts should be discussed with candidates before hiring them and let them know that their company will not tolerate any discrimination of any kind. Another example would be if a woman was being harassed by the men within the workplace to a serious extent. The manager would be in the hot seat if he didn’t get to the bottom of it. He would have to arrange a meeting with the woman in being harassed and find out who is behind it and fire them immediately. This would be one of the major problems that the employer would face within the workplace and if not dealt with immediately could result in them losing their job.

PO4 Question 4

Five pieces of current legislation relating to employment to cover the following issues are:

• Health, safety and welfare at work (Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005)

This Act clarifies and enhances the responsibilities of employer‘s, the self-employed, employees and various other parties in relation to safety and health at work. The Act also details the role and functions of the Health and Safety Authority, provides for a range of enforcement measures that may be applied and specifies penalties that may be applied for breach of occupational safety and health (www.hsa.ie)

Equality (Equality Act 2004 and Employment Equality Act 1998)

Their main aim is to promote equality by forbidding discrimination within employment. (www.ahead.ie)

• Union Representation (Industrial Relations Act 1990)

The definition of “trade dispute” no longer includes “worker v. worker” disputes, disputes about an individual’s employment must first go through statutory or collectively agreed resolution procedures, private residences can no longer be picketed, secondary action is restricted, and trade unions must have rules providing for secret ballots before industrial action is taken. On the other hand, the ability of employers to get labour injunctions is restricted where there has been a secret ballot and strike notice has been given. (www.eurofound.europa.eu)

• Regulations Relating to Pay:

National Minimum Wage Act 2000

The National Minimum Wage Act, 2000 provides that the minimum wage rate for an experienced adult employee from 1 May, 2005 is 7.65 euro per hour. Before then, the minimum wage rate was 7 euro per hour. The national minimum wage is reviewed at regular intervals (www.disability.ie)

And the Payment Of Wage Act 1991

The employer is obliged to provide a written statement of wages and deductions at the time of payment. It is worth noting that in the case of schools in Ireland for the purposes of the Payment of Wages act, 1991 the Department of Education and Skills is deemed to the employer. (www.employmentrightsinireland.com)

References

• Online at http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Managing_Health_and_Safety/Safety,_Health_and_Welfare_at_Work_Act_2005/ (accessed 12/02/14)
• Online at http://www.disability.ie/disability-ie-information-portal/site-sections/rights-legislation/183-legislation-bills-and-act-s-from-ireland-and-uk/534-national-minimum-wage-act (accessed 12/02/14)
• Online at http://www.asti.ie/?id=281 (accessed 12/02/14)
• Online at http://employmentrightsireland.com/payment-of-wages-act-1991-payment-of-wages-in-irish-employment-law/ (accessed 12/02/14)
• Online at http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/IRELAND/INDUSTRIALRELATIONSACT1990-IR.htm (accessed 13/02/14)
• Online at http://www.ahead.ie/inclusiveeducation_legislation_19982004acts (accessed 13/02/14)