Sexism remains number one cause of complaint against Irish employers

SEXISM is still the number one cause of complaint against employers — 32 years after the first laws were enacted to give men and women equal rights in the workplace.

The annual report of the Equality Tribunal shows that while the greatest increase in complaints from employees concerned discrimination on disability grounds, the biggest number of cases were still gender-related, accounting for 89, or almost a quarter of all referrals last year.

Orla O’Connor, head of policy with the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), said the record of progress on sexism was a disgrace. “The cases might be numerically quite small but they’re reflective of a much wider problem.