Employment Equality Act, 1977

Discrimination by employers prohibited.

3.—(1) A person who is an employer or who obtains under a contract with another person the services of employees of that other person shall not discriminate against an employee or a prospective employee or an employee of that other person in relation to access to employment, conditions of employment (other than remuneration or any condition relating to an occupational pension scheme), training or experience for or in relation to employment, promotion or re-grading in employment or classification of posts in employment.

(2) An employer shall not, in relation to his employees or to employment by him, have rules or instructions which would discriminate against an employee or class of employee, and shall not otherwise apply or operate a practice which results or would be likely to result in an act which is a contravention of any provision of this Act when taken in conjunction with section 2 (c).

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a person shall be taken to discriminate against an employee or prospective employee in relation to access to employment if—

(a) in any arrangements he makes for the purpose of deciding to whom he should offer employment, or

(b) by specifying, in respect of one person or class of persons, entry requirements for employment which are not specified in respect of other persons or classes of persons where the circumstances in which both such persons or classes would be employed are not materially different,

he contravenes subsection (1).

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a person shall be taken to discriminate against an employee or prospective employee in relation to conditions of employment if he does not offer or afford to a person or class of persons the same terms of employment (other than remuneration or any term relating to an occupational pension scheme), the same working conditions and the same treatment in relation to overtime, shift work, short time, transfers, lay-offs, redundancies, dismissals (other than a dismissal referred to in section 25) and disciplinary measures as he offers or affords to another person or class of persons where the circumstances in which both such persons or classes are or would be employed are not materially different.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a person shall be taken to discriminate against an employee in relation to training or experience for or in relation to employment if he refuses to offer or afford to that employee the same opportunities or facilities for employment counselling, training (whether on or off the job) and work experience as he offers or affords to other employees where the circumstances in which that employee and those other employees are employed are not materially different.

(6) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a person shall be taken to contravene that subsection if he discriminates against an employee in the way he offers or affords that employee access to opportunities for promotion in circumstances in which another eligible and qualified person is offered or afforded such access or if in those circumstances he refuses or deliberately omits to offer or afford that employee access to opportunities for promotion.

(7) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a person shall be taken to discriminate against an employee or prospective employee where he classifies posts by reference to sex and the classification is not a case referred to in section 17 (2).