Racial problems at work double to top complaints list
The number of cases shot to 307 last year, representing almost half of all employment-related cases referred to the tribunal for investigation.
Tribunal director Melanie Pine said she believed the trend reflected the increasing ethnic diversity of the workforce and the greater awareness workers had of their rights rather than simply an increase in discriminatory practices by employers.
However, the case files show workers face all kinds of discrimination at work, despite the fact that all forms of discrimination are outlawed — in some cases for the past three decades.
Last year saw a 59% rise in the number of cases taken by workers claiming discrimination on the disability ground, while gender discrimination is one of the most persistent problems.
“We still see women coming and saying they are pregnant and their bosses saying congratulations and the next day they are discovering performance issues and they are being fired,” Ms Pine said.
“It’s more than 30 years that it’s been illegal to fire somebody on the grounds of being pregnant, so it’s extraordinary that people still carry on doing it. Possibly it’s ignorance, possibly it’s just fear, possibly it’s a feeling that maybe they will have to pay extra.”
Overall, 1,000 people made complaints to the tribunal last year, a 36% increase on the previous year.
Roughly 45% of complaints go to full hearing and are decided in favour of the complainant, while others are resolved through legally binding mediation or are sorted informally before they get to that stage.
The threat of decentralisation hampered the work of the mediation division last year, resulting in loss of available mediators and a decline in the number of mediation hearings held.
A quarter fewer mediations were conducted during the year, mainly because of the uncertainty created by the proposal to move the body to Portarlington.
The tribunal said however that the recruitment of a number of new equality officers and mediators to begin work earlier this year had put the service back on track while approval was also being sought for the outsourcing of some mediation cases if necessary in future.
The Equality Tribunal can investigate cases under the Employment Equality and Equal Status Acts where people feel they have suffered discrimination on the grounds of their race, age, gender, disability, religion, marital status, family status, sexual orientation or membership of the Traveller community.
The tribunal is no goldmine for complainants, however.
The most compensation that can be paid out under the Equal Status Act is €6,350 and the maximum award anyone can receive for an employment related complaint equates to two years’ salary.
www.equalitytribunal.ie
