Employment Equality Amendment Bill

Labour Senators today introduced the Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013 in the Seanad. The Bill will amend Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, to ensure that religious-run, or controlled, schools or hospitals, can no longer opt out of anti-discrimination laws.

The Bill will provide that employees of such institutions, where they are state-funded, can no longer face discrimination, or dismissal, on the grounds that they are ‘undermining the ethos’ of their employer. This will act as an important safeguard for LGBT employees, single parents, and others who currently face potential discrimination under section 37.

Senator Ivana Bacik, Labour group leader and spokesperson on Justice in the Seanad, proposed this Bill and I. as spokesperson on Education in the Seanad, was delighted to second it.