R&R
Rights of the Employee &
Reasonable
Accommodations
Contents
Reasonable Accommodation ............................................................................................. 4
Fun Facts .............................................................................................................................. 5
The Employment Cycle & Your Rights .................................................................................. 5
Job Specification ............................................................................................................... 5
Interview ............................................................................................................................ 6
Assistance ..................................................................................................................... 6
Post Interview .................................................................................................................... 6
Employment ...................................................................................................................... 7
Training, Professional Development, Career Progression .............................................. 7
Acquiring a Disability ...................................................................................................... 7
Legislation............................................................................................................................. 9
Employment Equality Act ................................................................................................... 9
What is discrimination? .................................................................................................. 9
Specific situations covered by employment equality legislation .................................... 10
Health and Safety At work ............................................................................................... 12
Employer’s duties......................................................................................................... 12
Employees’ duties ........................................................................................................ 13
Risk assessment and safety statement ........................................................................ 13
Health and Safety Leave .............................................................................................. 14
Bullying ........................................................................................................................ 14
Harassment ................................................................................................................. 15
Violence in the workplace ............................................................................................ 15
Assault: ........................................................................................................................ 15
Victimisation................................................................................................................. 16
Overview
As an employee with a
disability you are protected
under general employment law,
have access to basic/ general
rights and must adhere to these
legal obligations, similar to
employees without disabilities.
For example
 Access to annual leave
 Must pay tax
 Regular bathroom breaks
As an employee with a disability you are also protected under
 Employment Equality Act 1998-2911
 Disability Act 2005
 Safety, Health and Welfare Act 2005-2010
Click here to read your rights under these acts.
Reasonable
Accommodation
A reasonable
accommodation is any
change in the workplace
that enables a qualified
individual with a disability to
enjoy equal employment
opportunities
Tip
If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation
 Make sure the employer understands that this will enable
you to do your job better
 Provide the employer with information on the Workplace
Adaptation Grant if appropriate. Click here to find out
more about the Workplace Adaptation Grant.
Fun Facts
1. True: Discrimination is defined as when one person is treated less favourably than
another is, has been or would be treated.
2. True: You are under no legal obligation to disclose your disability unless it would
cause harm to you or others around you
3. False: Employees with disabilities on the wage subsidy scheme are exempt from
paying tax
4. False: By law employees with disabilities automatically get flexi time
5. False: Employees with disabilities receive less annual leave than employees without
disabilities
6. True: By law you are entitled to regular bathroom breaks
7. True: Grant assistance is available for employers, employees and self-employed
disabled people who need to adapt the workplace
8. True: Employers can receive up to 6,000 euro to put reasonable accommodations in
place for an employee with a disability
9. There are nine grounds of discrimination, technically every ground covers people
with disabilities as disability is not subject to; civil status, gender, religion, sexual
orientation, membership of the travelling community, age or race. However family
status and disability refer specifically to the protection of people affected by disability.
10. True: Employees with disabilities are protected under general employment law as
well specific laws designed to protect people with disabilities in the workplace
The Employment Cycle & Your Rights
Job Specification
If you are applying for a job and the job specification is
discriminatory you can contact the company and inquire
whether or not the company is an equal opportunities employer.
The company can also be held accountable and prosecuted for
discrimination.
Signs that an advertisement is discriminatory
Requires personality traits in the “ideal candidate” for example;
sunny disposition
Requires an ability to do specific tasks in one particular way: for
example if a company needed you to travel to its offices down
the country and insisted on you driving, you could argue that
this is discrimination against people who cannot drive due to a
disability. If it is possible to take public transport than this
requirement in the advertisement is discriminatory in nature and
the company can be held accountable and prosecuted on these
grounds.
Interview
Physical Environment: If you require environmental
accessibility, you are entitled to request an accessible venue
for an interview; the Employer is legally obliged to do this.
Assistance
An employer must facilitate an interview with a person with a
disability if they have met the requirements on the job
specification.
Some grants are in place to facilitate an interview for people
with disabilities. For example; a person who is hard of hearing/
hearing impaired can request an interpreter for an interview.
The employer must oblige and can apply for a grant from the
department of social protection to cover the cost of the
interpreter
Post Interview
If you have not been selected for a position or would like to
receive feedback on your interview, you are within your right to
contact the company and request feedback, areas of
improvement, reasons as to why you did not get the position.
Please also note the employer is well within their rights to not
respond to this request.
Employment
Reasonable Accommodations: You are entitled to request
reasonable accommodation(s) under the Employment Equality
Act. The employer must provide reasonable accommodations
so long as it does not result in the employer incurring a financial
and/or productivity loss. Employers can apply for the
Workplace Adaptation Grant, which covers up to 6,000 euro for
reasonable accommodations to cover the cost.
Training, Professional Development, Career Progression
As an employee you are entitled to training courses,
professional development and career progression on the same
basis as other employees. Please note; that if the company
does not provide training, professional development or career
progression opportunities to any employees you are also not
entitled to them as an employee with a disability.
Acquiring a Disability
Retaining an Employee with an Acquired Disability
85% of people with acquired disabilities acquire those
disabilities during the course of their working life (16-65). For
this reason, the Department of Social Protection offers private
companies a Retention Grant for employees who acquire a
disability. This grant is designed to support a company in
keeping talent and the investment they have made in an
employee within the company. If you have acquired a disability
and had to leave work as a result you can approach your
employer with information on this grant to incentivise them to
bring you back into the workforce.
Legislation
Employment Equality Act
The Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2011 outlaw
discrimination in; employment, recruitment and promotion;
equal pay; working conditions; training or experience; dismissal
and harassment including sexual harassment. The legislation
defines discrimination as treating one person in a less
favourable way than another person based on any of the
following 9 grounds:
 Gender: this means man, woman or transsexual
 Civil status: includes single, married, separated, divorced,
widowed people, civil partners and former civil partners
 Family status: this refers to the parent of a person under
18 years or the resident primary carer or parent of a
person with a disability
 Sexual orientation: includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and
heterosexual
 Religion: means religious belief, background, outlook or
none
 Age: this does not apply to a person aged under 16
 Disability: includes people with physical, intellectual,
learning, cognitive or emotional disabilities and a range of
medical conditions
 Race: includes race, skin colour, nationality or ethnic
origin
 Membership of the Traveller community.
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is defined as less favourable treatment. An
employee is said to be discriminated against if he/she is treated
less favourably than another is, has been or would be treated in
a comparable situation on any of the above 9 grounds. To
establish direct discrimination, a direct comparison must be
made, for example, in the case of disability discrimination the
comparison must be between a person who has a disability and
another who has not, or between persons with different
disabilities.
Indirect discrimination occurs when practices or policies that do
not appear to discriminate against one group more than
another actually have a discriminatory impact. It can also
happen where a requirement that may appear nondiscriminatory adversely affects a particular group or class of
persons.
Specific situations covered by employment equality
legislation
Disability: Employers are obliged to make reasonable
accommodations for staff with disabilities. This includes
providing access to employment, enabling people with
disabilities to participate in employment including promotion,
and training.
Pregnancy: Pregnancy-related discrimination is discrimination
on the ground of gender and includes recruitment, promotion
and general conditions of employment. Women who are
pregnant or have recently given birth are also protected
under maternity protection and unfair dismissals legislation.
Equal pay: Employment equality legislation provides for equal
pay for like work. Like work is defined as work that is the same,
similar or work of equal value. It is one of the terms that must
be part of the contract of employment as a result of laws
passed by the Dail. A claim for equal pay can be made on any
of the 9 grounds listed above.
Harassment including sexual harassment that is based on any
of the 9 grounds is a form of discrimination in relation to
conditions of employment. Bullying at work which is linked to
one of the 9 discriminatory grounds above comes under
employment equality legislation.
Victimisation: Under employment equality legislation you are
protected against victimisation if you bring a claim or are
involved in a complaint of unlawful discrimination against your
employer. This means that your employer may not penalise you
by dismissal, unfair treatment or an unfavourable change in
your conditions of employment.
Enforcing your rights
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the
Equality Tribunal are separate organisations that work to
ensure equality at work.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is a statutory
body set up to provide information to the public on human rights
and equality legislation. It can, at its discretion, provide legal
assistance to people who wish to bring claims to the Equality
Tribunal. You can find the booklet, Your Employment Equality
Rights Explained on ihrec.ie
The Equality Tribunal is the place to bring a decimation claim
under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 - 2011 using the new
online complaint form (available by selecting ‘Make a complaint
in relation to employment rights’ on workplacerelations.ie). It
investigates or mediates claims of unlawful discrimination under
equality legislation.
Health and Safety At work
The main legislation providing for the health and safety of
people in the workplace are the Safety, Health and Welfare at
Work Acts 2005 and 2010. They apply to all employers,
employees (including fixed-term and temporary employees)
and self-employed people in their workplaces. The Acts set out
the rights and obligations of both employers and employees
and provides for substantial fines and penalties for breaches of
the health and safety legislation.
(General Application) Regulations 2007: Almost all of the
specific health and safety laws which apply generally to all
employments are contained in the Safety, Health and Welfare
at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007. You can find
them and other relevant regulations on hsa.ie.
Employer’s duties
Under Section 8 of the Act the employer has a duty to ensure
the employees’ safety, health and welfare at work as far as is
reasonably practicable. In order to prevent workplace injuries
and ill health the employer is required, among other things, to:
 Provide and maintain a safe workplace which uses safe
plant and equipment
 Prevent risks from use of any article or substance and
from exposure to physical agents, noise and vibration
 Prevent any improper conduct or behaviour likely to put
the safety, health and welfare of employees at risk
 Provide instruction and training to employees on health
and safety
 Provide protective clothing and equipment to employees
 Appointing a competent person as the organisation’s
Safety Officer
Employees’ duties
The duties of employees while at work are set out in Section
13 of the Act. These include the following:
 To take reasonable care to protect the health and safety of
themselves and of other people in the workplace
 Not to engage in improper behaviour that will endanger
themselves or others
 Not to be under the influence of drink or drugs in the
workplace
 To undergo any reasonable medical or other assessment
if requested to do so by the employer
 To report any defects in the place of work or equipment
which might be a danger to health and safety
Risk assessment and safety statement
Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 every
employer is required to carry out a risk assessment for the
workplace which should identify any hazards present in the
workplace, assess the risks arising from such hazards and
identify the steps to be taken to deal with any risks.
The employer must also prepare a safety statement which is
based on the risk assessment. The statement should also
contain the details of people in the workforce who are
responsible for safety issues. Employees should be given
access to this statement and employers should review it on a
regular basis. The Health and Safety Authority has
published guidelines on risk assessments and safety
statements (pdf).
Health and Safety Leave
Time spent on health and safety leave is treated as though the
employee has been in employment, and this time can be used
to accumulate annual leave entitlement. The employee is not
entitled to leave for any public holidays that occur during health
and safety leave. During health and safety leave, employers
must pay employees their normal wages for the first 21 days (3
weeks), after which Health and Safety Benefit may be paid.
Health and safety and young people
An employer should carry out a separate risk assessment in
relation to an employee less than 18 years of age. This risk
assessment should be carried out before the young person is
employed. If certain risks are present, including risks that
cannot be recognised or avoided by the young person due to
factors like lack of experience, the young person should not be
employed.
Bullying
One of the employer’s duties is to prevent improper conduct or
behaviour (which includes bullying). An employer should have
established procedures for dealing with complaints of bullying
in the workplace and deal with such complaints immediately.
Ignoring complaints of bullying could leave an employer open to
a possible claim for damages by an employee. It is advisable
for an employer to have an established grievance procedure to
deal with complaints of bullying. An employee who feels that he
or she is the victim of bullying can also refer the matter to
a Rights Commissioner – see ‘How to apply' below. The Code
of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention
and Resolution of Bullying at Work (pdf) sets out guidance
notes for addressing bullying in the workplace.
Harassment
The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2011 place an obligation
on all employers to prevent harassment in the workplace.
Under this law, you are entitled to bring a claim to the Equality
Tribunal and your employer may be obliged to pay you
compensation if you are harassed by reason of your gender,
civil status, family status, sexual orientation, age, disability,
race, religious belief or membership of the Traveller community.
Violence in the workplace
The possibility of violence towards employees should be
addressed in the safety statement. For example, factors like the
isolation of employees and the presence of cash on the
premises need to be taken into account. Proper safeguards
should be put into place to eliminate the risk of violence as far
as possible and the employee should be provided with
appropriate means of minimising the remaining risk, for
example, security glass. The Health and Safety Authority has
published a booklet for employers on violence in the workplace
(pdf).
Assault:
Under the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997
assault is a criminal offence. It is also an offence if you are
made to fear immediate assault. If you have been assaulted or
threatened with assault at work by another employee, you
should report the matter immediately to your employer and it
can also be reported. If your employer assaults you, you should
report the matter to the Gardaí. You should contact your doctor
or seek medical treatment for your injuries. You can also call
one of the organisations providing support to victims of crime.
You can apply for compensation by making a personal injuries
claim – see ‘How to apply’ below.
Victimisation
Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 the
employee may not be victimised for exercising his or her rights
under safety and health legislation such as making a complaint.
This means that the employer may not penalise an employee
by dismissal or in some other way, for example, by disciplinary
action or by being treated less favourably than other employees
– see ‘Enforcing your rights’ below.