Age equality in employment in Ireland

Rules

The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008 outlaw direct, indirect discrimination and discrimination by association at work and in all aspects of employment on the grounds of gender, marital and family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community.

Age discrimination

Discrimination is defined as the treatment of one person in a less favourable way than another person in a comparable situation on any of the grounds specified. It will cover not only current and past discrimination, but also discrimination that may exist in the future or is imputed to a person.

Where discrimination arises

The Acts outlaw discrimination by:

• Employers;
• Employment agencies,
• Providers of vocational training;
• Trade unions;
• Employer organisations;
• Professional bodies;
• Trade associations or

The Acts also outlaw discrimination in job advertisements.

Prohibited discimination relates to equal pay, access to employment, conditions of employment, training or experience, promotion or regrading or classification of posts. Conditions of employment do not, in this context, include pensions.

Indirect discrimination occurs where an apparently neutral provision puts persons of a particular group covered by the Acts at a particular disadvantage and where the provision is not objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving the aim are not appropriate and necessary.

Exclusions from the general prohibition of discrimination on age grounds

An employer may:

• set a minimum age requirement (not more than 18 years) for potential applicants for a job.
• offer a fixed-term contract to a person over the compulsory retirement age.

There are also exemptions inserted into Section 34 by Section 23 of the Equality Act 2004. With regard to an an occupational benefits scheme, it does not constitute discrimination on age grounds for an employer:

• to fix ages for admission to such a scheme or for entitlement to benefits under it;
• to fix different ages for all employees or a category of employees;
• to use, in the context of such a scheme, age criteria in actuarial calculations, or
• to provide different rates of severance payment for different employees or groups or categories of employees, these rates being based on or taking into account the period between the age of an employee on leaving the employment and his or her compulsory retirement age,

provided that these measures do not constitute discrimination on the gender grounds.

Positive action

Positive action to ease the integration into employment of people across all 9 grounds is allowed under the Acts.