Some readers may remember Ryanair being ordered to pay £8,000 in compensation by the Equality Authority (as it was then) after the airline posted a job advertisement seeking a “young and dynamic professional”. The judgment was the first handed down by the Equality Authority under the Employment Equality Act, 1998 and was also notable in that it led the Irish Times to issue a memorandum to all advertising staff warning that job ads must not contain the words “young” or “old”. The decision established a strong precedent and served as a warning to employers that their obligations under employment equality legislation would be strictly monitored.
Persons with young children need not apply!
Given that employers have grown more aware of their obligations under employment equality legislation since the days of the seminal Ryanair decision, it was astounding to read reports last week that a job advertisement posted on the recruitment site indeed.com specified that ‘persons with young children need not apply’.
It is increasingly rare for such a discriminatory job requirement to be published as recruitment agencies and advertisers may also face consequences for breaching employment equality legislation.
What the law says
The key piece of legislation from an employment perspective remains the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 – 2015 (the EEA). The EEA apply to all employees and agency workers in both the public and private sectors including applicants for employment and training. As well as prohibiting discrimination during the employment relationship, it is clear that the EEA also prohibit employers from carrying out discriminatory recruitment practices before the employment relationship begins.
Content you can include in a job advert
As a rule, an advertisement for a position should give a fair and accurate description of the role being offered. The following information will be within the boundaries set by the EEA:
Details of the job
Relevant details could include job title, reporting procedures, application process, location, conditions of employment and the duties and responsibilities of the job.
Criteria to establish capability
Employers are not required to recruit applicants who are not capable of doing the job. It is permissible to restrict recruitment for a particular position to applicants who hold a specified technical or educational qualification. Details of such criteria may be included in a job advertisement.
A job advertisement that focuses on the skills required to do the job is more likely to comply with the EEA.
Specific exemptions
The EEA permits specific residency, citizenship and Irish language proficiency criteria for certain public sector positions. Details of the relevant criteria may be included in a job advertisement.
Content to avoid in a job advertisement
The principal aim of the EEA is to outlaw discrimination on the basis of the following nine grounds; gender, sexual orientation, disability, civil status, religious belief, race (to include colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins), family status, age and membership of the Traveller community.
Requirements excluding protected categories of person
Job advertisements must be carefully worded to avoid the implication that a discriminatory recruitment decision will be made based on any of the nine grounds. Advertisements that exclude potential applicants will attract scrutiny both from any disappointed applicants and Ireland’s independent equality body, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
It will be no defence for an employer to state that it did not intend to exclude any applicant or group of applicants. A poorly drafted job advertisement may exclude applicants of a certain gender, race or age for instance.
Advertising a job for a cleaning ‘lady’, a ‘mature’ personal assistant or a ‘native’ English speaker are perhaps obvious examples in the context of this article but many employers will not be entirely familiar with the law and how it operates.
Reduce avoidable risk
Employers who fail to comply with their obligations under the EEA risk suffering significant financial penalties as well as reputational damage. In terms of financial compensation, if a job applicant is unsuccessful with an application for discriminatory reasons, the employer may be liable to make a payment of compensation of up to €13,000.
Taking the time to carefully draft job advertisements which focus on the skills required to do the job will significantly reduce the risk of publishing a discriminatory job posting. Our advice guide includes further details on how to eliminate certain other risks associated with advertising for a vacant position.
For more information on how to protect your business against employment-related discrimination claims, please call the Peninsula 24-hour advice line on 0818 923 923 to speak with an adviser
