Building an agenda for change in the Workplace Relations Commission, 2016

In September 2016, Equality Rights Alliance (ERA), in conjunction with SIPTU, the Independent Law Centres Network and the Employment Law Association of Ireland, hosted a roundtable discussion in Liberty Hall, Dublin called Building an Agenda for Change in the WRC.  The aim of the roundtable was to discuss the operation of the WRC from an equality perspective and to generate a shared vision for the direction participants would like the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to take in enforcing employment equality and equal status legislation.  The roundtable focused on the visibility of equality in the work of the WRC, how accessible the WRC is to people taking equality cases and how cases are processed under the WRC.  Jane O’Sullivan, solicitor and policy officer with Community Law & Mediation, addressed the roundtable on the accessibility of the WRC to people facing discrimination.  As a representative of the Independent Law Centres Network, she explored access to justice issues in taking equality cases.

This submission deals primarily with issues around access to justice, particularly for people who cannot afford to pay for private legal representation. It advocates for an expansion of the Civil Legal Aid Scheme, which currently does not cover claims taken to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), the forum in which employment equality and equal status cases are heard. Please click here to read the full submission.