
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably than another person is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on any of the nine protected grounds.
What is discriminatory treatment is laid out in the Employment Equality Act (The Act).

Comparable persons are those employed under the same employer, or in a very similar position, but are not a part of whichever of the nine protected grounds are being compared.
For example, a disabled employee and a non-disabled employee working together in a petrol station, or who perform very similar roles in different petrol stations.
The situation in which treatment is compared to may not be perfectly identical. In fact, it may even be hypothetical.
Every employee in Ireland is entitled to submit a claim if they have been treated unfavourably in their workplace.
These acts broadly render unlawful discrimination against employees on the basis of;
- Gender
- Marital status
- Family status
- Sexual orientation
- Religion
- Age
- Disability
- race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origins
- Membership of the Traveller community
Pregnant women
Discrimination relating to maternal leave and pregnancy are specially acknowledged as discrimination based on gender under the Act.
It has been shown that discrimination arising from pregnancy can be grounded as discrimination based on sex as a whole, seeing as it is a uniquely feminine aspect.
Direct vs indirect
Different types of discrimination exist and must be handled differently.
Direct discrimination is when a person or group is treated less favourably than another comparable person or group. This is easy to identify.
Not all forms of discrimination are direct. Sometimes, a policy that seems neutral can in fact be discriminatory against a group.
An example would be a minimum hours requirement for a pension. This can disproportionately affect women who work part-time to mind their children.
Areas affected
Access to employment
An employee cannot be denied access to employment due to the nine protected grounds. Where an employee may be less able to complete work, reasonable accommodations must be for them, or failing that, other work must be sought for them.
Conditions of employment
All employees must be given equal conditions of employment, barring reasonable accommodations made such as a chair available for someone who is unable to stand for extended periods of time. An employee, for example, cannot be shuttered into the back of a workplace due to their identity.
Training or experience or promotion
Reasonable accommodation must be made to give all employees access to relevant training and promotion. If an employee is denied a promotion, it must be on grounds of a better qualified contemporary, and not due to the nine protected grounds.
Burden of proof
In cases of discrimination, it falls on the person submitting the claim to show that they have been discriminated against. If that is successful, it then falls on the employer to prove that discrimination did not take place, either through the rebuttal of claims or justification of their actions on objective grounds.
In claims relating to pregnancy or maternal leave, unfavourable treatment while pregnant is quite easy to attribute to that pregnancy under the Act. It falls on the employer to prove that any unfavourable treatment that occurred was not due to pregnancy.
Objective justification
Employers can raise the defence of objective justification against an equality complaint if they can show that the unfavourable treatment was objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.Victimisation vs Discrimination
Victimisation is where a third party is unfavourably treated because they opposed discrimination, or were involved in a complaint of unlawful discrimination. Victimisation is also covered by equality legislation and can be reported.Complaints
Complaints surrounding discrimination are dealt with by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). Submitting a complaint will result in a mediation; if that fails or is not availed of an arbitration will take place.
When entering a complaint under equality grounds, a submission shall be made within 6 months of the date of the grievance occurring, or where multiple grievances occur, the date of the last grievance.
Protection under the nine protected grounds takes place immediately upon employment.
Setanta solicitors can consult on matters related to employment and discrimination.
Conclusion
An employee can submit an equal status claim to the WRC if they feel that they have faced discrimination in their employment relating to any of the nine protected grounds.
Colleagues who have raised concerns or formal complaints about witnessing discrimination taking place are also protected from unfavourable treatment or being penalised for having raised these concerns.
Discrimination in Irish law is defined in comparison to another person. It can occur across a wide range of areas but must be related to the nine protected grounds. Discrimination relating to pregnancy is considered discrimination based on gender.
If an employee can show reasonable evidence that discrimination has taken place, it is up to the employer to prove that it did not happen, or that it was objectively justified.