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21 1998

EMPLOYMENT EQUALITY ACT, 1998

PART I

Preliminary and General

Short title and commencement.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Employment Equality Act, 1998.

(2) Except in so far as any provision of this Act provides expressly for the coming into operation of any such provision, this Act shall come into operation on such day as may be fixed by order made by the Minister, and different days may be so fixed for different provisions and for different purposes.

Interpretation.

2. —(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

act” includes a deliberate omission;

advertisement” includes every form of advertisement, whether to the public or not and whether in a newspaper or other publication, on television or radio or by display of a notice or by any other means, and references to the publishing of advertisements shall be construed accordingly;

agency worker” means an employee whose contract of employment is as mentioned in paragraph (b) of the definition of such a contract in this subsection;

associated employer” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2);

the Authority” means the Equality Authority;

contract of employment” means, subject to subsection (3)

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, or

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with a person carrying on the business of an employment agency, within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971 , to do or perform personally any work or service for another person (whether or not that other person is a party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied and, if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

the Director” means the Director of Equality Investigations;

disability” means—

(a) the total or partial absence of a person's bodily or mental functions, including the absence of a part of a person's body,

(b) the presence in the body of organisms causing, or likely to cause, chronic disease or illness,

(c) the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of a person's body,

(d) a condition or malfunction which results in a person learning differently from a person without the condition or malfunction, or

(e) a condition, illness or disease which affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgement or which results in disturbed behaviour,

and shall be taken to include a disability which exists at present, or which previously existed but no longer exists, or which may exist in the future or which is imputed to a person;

the discriminatory grounds” has the meaning given by section 6 (2);

dismissal” includes the termination of a contract of employment by the employee (whether prior notice of termination was or was not given to the employer) in circumstances in which, because of the

conduct of the employer, the employee was or would have been entitled to terminate the contract without giving such notice, or it was or would have been reasonable for the employee to do so, and “dismissed” shall be construed accordingly;

employee”, subject to subsection (3), means a person who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment;

employer”, subject to subsection (3), means, in relation to an employee, the person with whom the employee has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment;

employment agency” (when not defined by reference to the Employment Agency Act, 1971 ) means a person who, whether for profit or otherwise, provides services related to the finding of employment for prospective employees or the supplying of employees to employers;

equality clause” means a gender equality clause, as defined in section 21 or a non-discriminatory equality clause, as defined in section 30 ;

equal remuneration term” means such a term of a contract as is specified in section 19 (1), 20 (1) or 29 (1);

family status” means responsibility—

(a) as a parent or as a person in loco parentis in relation to a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, or

(b) as a parent or the resident primary carer in relation to a person of or over that age with a disability which is of such a nature as to give rise to the need for care or support on a continuing, regular or frequent basis,

and, for the purposes of paragraph (b), a primary carer is a resident primary carer in relation to a person with a disability if the primary carer resides with the person with the disability;

functions”, in relation to the Authority, includes powers and duties;

like work” shall be construed in accordance with section 7 ;

marital status” means single, married, separated, divorced or widowed;

member of the family”, in relation to any person, means—

(a) that person's spouse, or

(b) a brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, lineal ancestor or lineal descendant of that person or that person's spouse;

the Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

pension rights” means a pension or any other benefits flowing from an occupational pension scheme;

proceedings” include any referral, mediation or investigation under Part VII but does not include criminal proceedings for an offence under this Act;

provider of agency work” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (5);

regulatory body” means a body which falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 13 ;

relevant characteristic” shall be construed in accordance with section 28 (3);

religious belief” includes religious background or outlook;

remuneration”, in relation to an employee, does not include pension rights but, subject to that, includes any consideration, whether in cash or in kind, which the employee receives, directly or indirectly, from the employer in respect of the employment;

sexual orientation” means heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual orientation;

trade union” means a trade union which is the holder of a negotiation licence under Part II of the Trade Union Act, 1941 ;

vocational training” shall be construed in accordance with section 12 (2).

(2) For the purposes of this Act, two employers shall be taken to be associated if one is a body corporate of which the other (whether directly or indirectly) has control or if both are bodies corporate of which a third person (whether directly or indirectly) has control.

(3) For the purposes of this Act—

(a) a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces) or otherwise as a civil servant, within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956 , shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the State or Government, as the case may be, under a contract of service,

(b) an officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 , a harbour authority, a health board or a vocational education committee shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority, board or committee, as the case may be, under a contract of service, and

(c) in relation to an agency worker, the person who is liable for the pay of the agency worker shall be deemed to be the employer.

(4) In this Act a reference to “conditions of employment” does not include remuneration or pension rights.

(5) A person who, under a contract with an employment agency, within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971 , obtains the services of one or more agency workers but is not their employer for the purposes of this Act is in this Act referred to, in relation to the agency workers, as the “provider of agency work”.

(6) In this Act a reference to a Part or section is to a Part or section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(7) In this Act a reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

(8) In this Act a reference to an enactment includes a reference to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

Orders and regulations.

3. —(1) Any power under this Act to make an order, other than under section 1 (2), includes power to amend or revoke an order made in the exercise of that power.

(2) Where an order is proposed to be made under this Act, other than an order under section 1 (2) or subsection (3) or (5) of section 56 , a draft of the order shall be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas, and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each such House.

(3) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to this Act.

(4) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(5) Any order or regulation made under this Act may contain such consequential, supplementary and ancillary provisions as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.

Expenses.

4. —Any expenses incurred in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Repeals and consequential amendments.

5. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act, 1974 , and the Employment Equality Act, 1977 , are hereby repealed.

(2) Without prejudice to the operation of section 21 (which relates to the effect of repeals) of the Interpretation Act, 1937 , nothing in this section shall affect the continuing operation of orders made under section 14 (which relates to power to repeal or amend certain enactments) of the Employment Equality Act, 1977 , and, accordingly, any such orders shall have effect, after the coming into operation of this section, as if that section continued in force.

(3) In subsection (2) of section 4 (which relates to the deputy chairman of the Labour Court) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 , to substitute “, this Act and the Employment Equality Act, 1998” for “and this Act”.