Employment Equality Act, 1998

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Obligations of Employers etc.

Nature and extent of employer's obligations in certain cases.

16.—(1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring any person to recruit or promote an individual to a position, to retain an individual in a position, or to provide training or experience to an individual in relation to a position, if the individual—

(a) will not undertake (or, as the case may be, continue to undertake) the duties attached to that position or will not accept (or, as the case may be, continue to accept) the conditions under which those duties are, or may be required to be, performed, or

(b) is not (or, as the case may be, is no longer) fully competent and available to undertake, and fully capable of undertaking, the duties attached to that position, having regard to the conditions under which those duties are, or may be required to be, performed.

(2) In relation to—

(a) the provision by an employment agency of services or guidance to an individual in relation to employment in a position,

(b) the offer to an individual of a course of vocational training or any related facility directed towards employment in a position, and

(c) the admission of an individual to membership of a regulatory body or into a profession, vocation or occupation controlled by a regulatory body,

subsection (1) shall apply, with any necessary modification, as it applies to the recruitment of an individual to a position.

(3) (a) For the purposes of this Act, a person who has a disability shall not be regarded as other than fully competent to undertake, and fully capable of undertaking, any duties if, with the assistance of special treatment or facilities, such person would be fully competent to undertake, and be fully capable of undertaking, those duties.

(b) An employer shall do all that is reasonable to accommodate the needs of a person who has a disability by providing special treatment or facilities to which paragraph (a) relates.

(c) A refusal or failure to provide for special treatment or facilities to which paragraph (a) relates shall not be deemed reasonable unless such provision would give rise to a cost, other than a nominal cost, to the employer.

(4) In subsection (3)—

“employer” includes an employment agency, a person offering a course of vocational training as mentioned in section 12 (1) and a regulatory body; and accordingly references to a person who has a disability include—

(a) such a person who is seeking or using any service provided by the employment agency,

(b) such a person who is participating in any such course or facility as is referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 12 (1), and

(c) such a person who is a member of or is seeking membership of the regulatory body;

“providing”, in relation to the special treatment or facilities to which paragraph (a) relates, includes making provision for, allowing or availing of such treatment or facilities, and “provide” shall be construed accordingly.

(5) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring an employer to recruit, retain in employment or promote an individual if the employer is aware, on the basis of a criminal conviction of the individual or other reliable information, that the individual engages, or has a propensity to engage, in any form of sexual behaviour which is unlawful.

(6) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (5), that subsection applies in particular where the employment concerned involves access to minors or to other persons who are vulnerable.