Equality chiefs get tough with employers

EQUALITY chiefs are to call up previously unused powers to root out companies and services which repeatedly flout anti-discrimination laws.

Firms with more than 50 employees could be subject to involuntary audits and entire sectors of industry and service provision could find themselves under the spotlight in formal inquiries. Both mechanisms are provided for in the legislation that gives the Equality Authority its powers but have not yet been put into action.

However, the head of the Equality Authority has warned that bosses in the public and private sector are not getting the message about discrimination and the time has come to flex some muscle.

Authority chief executive Niall Crowley said only a third of Irish employers were au fait with their responsibilities under the equality legislation and were genuine about creating a discrimination-free workplace.

Another third were interested in equality but feared lawsuits and creating an additional workload if they introduced the issue into the workplace.

“There is a fear that if equality is named as an issue, somebody will put it back to them as a problem. They fear that by naming it, they’re stirring it,” Mr Crowley said. “Then there is another layer that just is not interested and is actively involved in discrimination.”

Mr Crowley was speaking with the Irish Examiner as the Equality Authority reviewed its first five years.

He called for far higher fines for breaches of equality legislation, arguing existing penalties were not severe enough to be dissuasive.

He was disappointed with the pub trade’s reaction to legislation guaranteeing equal access to members of the Traveller community.

He also said it was disturbing how quickly racial discrimination had emerged as a problem once non-nationals became a regular feature of the workforce.

Mr Crowley lamented the fact that 30 years of equal rights for women had failed to put them on an level footing with men in terms of their earning power and promotional prospects.