see also ‘Civil Status’ and ‘Discrimination’ - Marital status in an employment law context arises as one of the nine grounds of discrimination in Ireland, as outlined in the Employment Equality Acts, 1998-2008. Discrimination can occur under this ground where differential treatment occurs on the basis that an employee, or potential employee, is of a different marital status. For the purposes of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, marital status includes being “single, married, separated, divorced or widowed”. Employers should also be aware that as of January 2011, this discrimination ground has been renamed to “Civil Status” and the definition has been extended as including “being single, married, separated, divorced, widowed, in a civil partnership within the meaning of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 or being a former civil partner in a civil partnership that has ended by death or been dissolved”.
