The General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 (General Scheme) was published on 15 January 2025.
This draft legislation proposes, among other things, to amend the Employment Equality Act 1998 (1998 Act) and transpose a number of the requirements of the Pay Transparency Directive 2023/970/EU (Directive) into Irish law.
Pay Transparency Directive
The Directive came into force in June 2023. Member States have until June 2026 to implement it. The Irish Government has taken its first steps in transposing the provisions of the Directive by publishing the General Scheme. The General Scheme focuses on two aspects of the Directive which are job advertisements and pay history. As the General Scheme progresses through the legislative process, it may include more elements of the Directive, including a pay progression policy, a ban on pay secrecy and the right to information for certain workers. Alternatively, these outstanding items may be addressed in a separate Pay Transparency Act as referenced in the recently published Spring 2025 Government Legislation Programme.
Job Advertisements
The General Scheme would require employers to provide information about salary levels or ranges in job advertisements or before an interview. This provision goes beyond the requirements of the Directive as the General Scheme specifically requires the employer to provide this information in the advertisement, not just to have it available in the interview if asked.
Current legislation allows employers to set out certain specific educational, technical or professional qualifications required for a particular job. However, the General Scheme requires employers (in addition to the requirements of the Directive) to objectively justify the necessity and proportionality of any specific criteria required of job applicants.
Pay History
The General Scheme prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their pay history or their current rate of pay. This is in line with the Directive and aims to prevent employees from getting unknowingly caught in a cycle of underpayment.
Employers will have to be conscious of these new requirements during the recruitment process.
Extension of Time Limits
The General Scheme proposes to extend the time limit for employees to submit complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for discrimination claims and maternity leave related claims.
Discrimination Claims
Currently, employees have six months from the date of the alleged discrimination to submit a complaint under the 1998 Act to the WRC, this time limit may be extended to twelve months due to reasonable cause. The General Scheme proposes to extend the initial time limit to twelve months with the option of extending by a further six months for reasonable cause.
Under current legislation, only employees who were dismissed or are still employed when referring their complaint are entitled to the maximum compensation of either two years remuneration or €40,000 (whichever is higher). This has created a lacuna for those who left employment of their own accord prior to referring a complaint as currently they cannot be awarded more than €13,000. The General Scheme proposes to extend the entitlement to this maximum compensation to employees who chose to leave their employment prior to referring a complaint.
This proposal seeks to prevent victims of discrimination from being further marginalised if they are unaware of the redress available to them.
If this proposal becomes law, employers and organisations will need to be prepared to defend claims up to eighteen months after the alleged discrimination. Therefore, it will be necessary to review data retention and other processes to ensure that any relevant meeting notes, emails, communications/grievances necessary to defend any such claim are maintained for at least eighteen months.
Maternity Related Claims
Currently, adjudication officers in the WRC cannot hear a claim under the Maternity Protections Act 1994 (1994 Act) if more than six months have elapsed since the date the employee (i) informed the employer that they were pregnant, (ii) gave birth, or (iii) stopped breastfeeding, whichever is the relevant cause of action. As the current time limit means that an employee's protections are likely to have expired before they return to work, it is proposed to extend the time limit from six to twelve months to run from the date the employee (i) informed the employer that they were pregnant, (ii) gave birth, or (iii) stopped breastfeeding.
Employers should be mindful that this extended timeframe increases their scope of potential liability. If this proposal becomes law, data retention processes and other processes will need to be reviewed to ensure that relevant information is retained for this extended period, which is necessary to defend a claim.
Protection for Employees with Disabilities
The General Scheme provides increased protections for employees with disabilities by removing the provision in the 1998 Act permitting different pay rates for people with disabilities whose productivity is restricted compared with other employees.
The 1998 Act would also be amended to allow employers to take positive action on equality grounds in respect of prospective employees, not just current employees. This would help employers develop recruitment initiatives to improve employment and promotion rates for underrepresented people with protected characteristics.
Key Takeaways for Employers
This proposed legislation, if enacted, will enhance and increase the statutory equality protections for individuals. It is clear that the European Union and Irish Government alike remain focused on ensuring strong protections are in place. This sends a strong message to employers that they cannot relax their diversity, equality and inclusion practices even in the wake of this global discourse.
Employers can do three things to prepare for the changes to come:
- Review their recruitment practices and identify the changes that are required to comply with the proposed legislative amendments;
- Review their data retention policies to ensure that evidence can be retained to refute any allegations made against them in the proposed extended claim timeframes; and
- Provide DEI training to managers and HR professionals on discriminatory treatment and the associated liability and risks to employers and employees.
Contributed by Sean Kelly.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
