Employment Equality in Practice in ROI - Avoiding Costly Mistakes

Introduction

Employment equality law is one of the most frequently litigated and most misunderstood areas of Irish employment law. Despite comprehensive legislation, employers and HR professionals continue to encounter significant difficulty in identifying discrimination risks, managing complaints effectively and discharging the burden of proof once a claim reaches the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

This webinar explains how the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 operate in practice, focusing on how discrimination, harassment, victimisation and reasonable accommodation claims are assessed by Adjudication Officers and the Labour Court. Particular emphasis is placed on recent WRC decisions, where employers who believed they were acting reasonably nonetheless failed to meet statutory standards.

The webinar will help delegates understand what has changed in recent years and it highlights the legal and financial consequences of non compliance, including awards of up to 104 weeks’ remuneration, reputational risk and mandatory corrective orders. It provides practical guidance and defensible strategies for handling equality issues at recruitment, during employment and when complaints arise.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• How discrimination is defined under Section 6 of the Employment Equality Acts and how claims are framed before the WRC
• The nine protected grounds and how claims frequently overlap across multiple grounds
• How the burden of proof operates under Section 85A and why employers often fail to rebut a prima facie case
• What constitutes harassment and victimisation, including single incident liability and ‘banter’ defences
• Employer liability for acts of employees and third parties, including the limits of the ‘reasonable steps’ defence
• Reasonable accommodation obligations under Section 16 and how Nano Nagle has reshaped employer duties
• Practical guidance on investigations, policies, training and documentation that withstand scrutiny
• Common mistakes that lead to adverse findings and significant compensation awards

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Friday 30th October 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,400+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.