Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1976

1. Introductory Text

2. PART I The Fair Employment Agency for Northern Ireland

   1. 1. Constitution and general duties of the Agency

   2. 2. Educational functions

3. PART II Equality of Opportunity

   1. General

      1. 3. Meaning of " equality of opportunity "

      2. 4. The Fair Employment Appeals Board

   2. Encouragement of commitment to standards and principle of equality of opportunity

      1. 5. Guide to manpower policy and practice

      2. 6. Declaration of commitment to, and intent to implement, principle of equality of opportunity

      3. 7. The Register of Equal Opportunity Employers and Organisations

      4. 8. Appeal against removal of name from, or refusal to restore name to, the register in certain circumstances

      5. 9. Publication of names of Equal Opportunity Employers and Organisations

      6. 10. Offences in relation to s. 7

   3. Identification of patterns and trends of employment, etc.

      1. 11. Survey of employment, etc., patterns

   4. Investigation and remedying of practices which fail to afford equality of opportunity

      1. 12. Investigation of employment, etc., practices

      2. 13. Undertaking or directions for remedying of certain practices

   5. Appeals and legal proceedings in relation to the remedying of practices

      1. 14. Appeal to Appeals Board against directions under s. 13

      2. 15. Enforcement by county court of undertaking or directions

4. PART III Unlawful Discrimination

   1. General

      1. 16. Meaning of " discrimination " and " unlawful discrimination "

   2. Acts of unlawful discrimination

      1. 17. Discrimination by employers

      2. 18. Discrimination against contract workers

      3. 19. Discrimination by persons with statutory power to select employees for others.

      4. 20. Discrimination by employment agencies

      5. 21. Discrimination by vocational organisations

      6. 22. Discrimination by persons providing training services

      7. 23. Discrimination by persons with power to confer qualifications

   3. Complaints of unlawful discrimination

      1. 24. Investigation of complaint of unlawful discrimination

      2. 25. Finding following investigation; attempts at conciliation

      3. 26. Further attempts at conciliation: recommendations

      4. 27. Remedying of practices excluding equality of opportunity which are disclosed on investigation of complaint

   4. Appeal against finding following complaint of unlawful discrimination

      1. 28. Appeal to county court against Agency's finding on complaint of unlawful discrimination

      2. 29. Supplementary provisions as to appeal under s. 28

   5. Legal proceedings to secure compensation for, or the remedying of, unlawful discrimination

      1. 30. Action in county court following breakdown of attempts at conciliation

      2. 31. Powers of court as to damages and injunctions

      3. 32. Power of court to revise contracts

5. PART IV Other unlawful acts

   1. 33. Discriminatory advertisements

   2. 34. Accessories and incitement

   3. 35. Liability of employers and principals

   4. 36. Enforcement of s. 33

6. PART V Exceptions

   1. 37. Excepted employments, etc.

   2. 38. Review of exception of school-teachers

   3. 39. Power to remove or limit exception of school-teachers

   4. 40. Charities

   5. 41. Acts done under statutory authority

   6. 42. Acts done to safeguard national security, etc.

7. PART VI Miscellaneous

   1. Restriction on proceedings

      1. 43. Restriction on proceedings for contravention of Act

   2. Supplementary provisions as to the county court

      1. 44. Jurisdiction as to acts done on ships, etc, 45. County court rules and orders

      2. 45. County court rules and county court orders made under section...

      3. 46. Powers of county court as to injunctions

      4. 47. Execution of order for damages or costs

      5. 48. Appeal from county court

   3. Construction of references to employment or occupation in Northern Ireland

      1. 49. Meaning of " employment in Northern Ireland" and " occupation in Northern Ireland "

   4. Application to the Crown, police and public bodies

      1. 50. Application of Act to the Crown

      2. 51. Proceedings against Crown for unlawful discrimination

      3. 52. Disclosure of information by Crown for purposes of investigation or proceedings

      4. 53. Application of Act to the police

      5. 54. Procedure following investigation under s. 12 of Minister, government department, certain statutory bodies or statutory officers and police

   5. General

      1. 55. Service of documents

      2. 56. Orders and reports

      3. 57. General interpretation

      4. 58. Amendments and extension of enactments, and repeal

      5. 59. Short title, extent and commencement

8. SCHEDULES

   1. SCHEDULE 1

      The Fair Employment Agency for Northern Ireland

      1. Incorporation and status

         1. 1. On the appointment of the first members of the Agency,...

         2. 2. (1) The Agency is not an emanation of the Crown,...

      2. Tenure of office of members

         1. 3. (1) A person shall hold and vacate his office as...

      3. Remuneration of members

         1. 4. The Department may pay, or make such payments towards the...

      4. Staff

         1. 5. (1) The Agency may with the approval of the Department...

      5. Proceedings

         1. 6. (1) Without prejudice to any provision of Schedule 5, the...

         2. 7. The validity of any proceedings of the Agency shall not...

      6. Instruments

         1. 8. A document purporting to be duly executed under the common...

         2. 9. Any contract or instrument which, if entered into or executed...

      7. Discharge of functions

         1. 10. (1) The Agency may authorise the discharge, under the general...

         2. 11. The Agency may appoint as assessors, to assist—

      8. Expenses and accounts

         1. 12. All expenditure incurred by or on behalf of the Agency—...

         2. 13. (1) The Agency shall keep proper accounts in such form...

      9. Annual report

         1. 14. (1) The Agency shall prepare in respect of the period...

   2. SCHEDULE 2

      The Fair Employment Appeals Board

      1. Tenure of office of members

         1. 1. (1) A person shall hold and vacate his office as...

      2. Remuneration of members

         1. 2. The Department may pay, or make such payments towards the...

      3. Staff and accommodation

         1. 3. (1) The Department may, with the approval of the Department...

      4. Proceedings

         1. 4. (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) and without prejudice to any...

         2. 5. The validity of the proceedings of the Appeals Board shall...

      5. Expenses of Board

         1. 6. Any expenditure incurred in accordance with the provisions of this...

   3. SCHEDULE 3

      Declaration of Principle and Intent

   4. SCHEDULE 4

      Conduct of Appeals by the Appeals Board

      1. Preliminary

         1. 1. In this Schedule " the appeal" means an appeal to...

      2. Notices

         1. 2. (1) The appeal shall be initiated by the appellant serving...

      3. Procedure

         1. 3. Both the appellant and the Agency shall be entitled—

         2. 4. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, the Appeals Board shall afford...

         3. 5. The appeal shall be conducted in private.

         4. 6. Subject to paragraphs 3 to 5, the Appeals Board may...

      4. Evidence

         1. 7. (1) For the purposes of the appeal, the Appeals Board...

      5. Obstruction and contempt

         1. 8. (1) If any person, without lawful excuse, obstructs the Appeals...

      6. Expenses

         1. 9. The Appeals Board may, if it thinks fit, pay to...

      7. Notification of decision

         1. 10. (1) Following the hearing of the appeal, the Appeals Board...

      8. Confidentiality of information

         1. 11. (1) Without prejudice to any provision of section 52, no...

   5. SCHEDULE 5

      Conduct of Investigations by the Agency

      1. Preliminary

         1. 1. In this Schedule " the investigation " means—

      2. Notices

         1. 2. Where the investigation is to be of the kind mentioned...

         2. 3. Where the investigation is to be of the kind mentioned...

      3. Procedure

         1. 4. The Agency shall afford to every person such as is...

         2. 5. The investigation shall be conducted in private.

         3. 6. Subject to paragraphs 4 and 5, the procedure for conducting...

      4. Information and evidence

         1. 7. For the purposes of the investigation, the Agency may obtain...

         2. 8. (1) For the purposes of the investigation the Agency may...

         3. 9. For the purposes of the investigation the Agency may also...

      5. Obstruction and contempt

         1. 10. (1) If any person, without lawful excuse, obstructs the Agency...

      6. Expenses

         1. 11. (1) Without prejudice to paragraph 8(3)(c), the Agency may, if...

      7. Confidentiality of information

         1. 12. (1) Without prejudice to any provision of section 52, no...

   6. SCHEDULE 6

      Amendments

      1. The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 (c. 36)

         1. 1. In section 19 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973...

         2. 2. In section 20(2) of that Act (membership of the Standing...

      2. The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 (c. 24)

         1. 3. In Part II of Schedule 1 to the House of...

      3. The Northern Ireland Assembly Disqualification Act 1975 (c. 25)

         1. 4. In Part II of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland...