Employment Equality Act, 1998

• Permanent Page URL

Indirect discrimination.

31.—(1) Where a provision (whether in the nature of a requirement, practice or otherwise) relating to employment—

(a) applies to all the employees or prospective employees of a particular employer who include C and D or, as the case may be, to a particular class of those employees or prospective employees which includes C and D,

(b) operates to the disadvantage of C, as compared with D, in relation to any of the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (e) of section 8 (1),

(c) in practice can be complied with by a substantially smaller proportion of the employees or prospective employees having the same relevant characteristic as C when compared with the employees or prospective employees having the same relevant characteristic as D, and

(d) cannot be justified as being reasonable in all the circumstances of the case,

then, subject to subsections (4) and (5), for the purposes of this Act the employer shall be regarded as discriminating against C, contrary to section 8 , on whichever of the discriminatory grounds gives rise to the relevant characteristics referred to in paragraph (c).

(2) Where a provision (whether in the nature of a requirement, practice or otherwise) relating to membership of a regulatory body—

(a) applies to all members or potential members or to a particular class of member or potential member which includes C and D,

(b) operates to the disadvantage of C, as compared with D, in relation to any of the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (e) of section 8 (1),

(c) in practice can be complied with by a substantially smaller proportion of the members or potential members having the same relevant characteristic as C when compared with the members or potential members having the same relevant characteristic as D, and

(d) cannot be justified as being reasonable in all the circumstances of the case,

then, subject to subsection (5), for the purposes of this Act the regulatory body shall be regarded as discriminating against C, contrary to section 13 , on whichever of the discriminatory grounds gives rise to the relevant characteristics referred to in paragraph (c).

(3) Subsection (1) shall apply with the necessary modifications in relation to—

(a) the provision of any such services of an employment agency as are referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 11 (1),

(b) participation in any such course or facility as is referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 12 (1).

(4) Subsection (3) of section 8 applies for the purposes of subsection (1) and, in so far as it relates to an employer, subsection (5) as it applies for the purposes of subsections (4) to (8) of that section.

(5) If a provision is such that, apart from this subsection, an employer or regulatory body would be regarded—

(a) by virtue of subsection (1) or (2), as discriminating against an individual on the marital status ground or the family status ground, and

(b) by virtue of section 22 , also as discriminating against the same individual on the gender ground,

the employer or regulatory body shall not be regarded as discriminating against that individual by virtue of subsection (1) or, as the case may be, subsection (2).