Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 explained

The Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (1998 No. 3162 (N.I. 12)) is an order in Council for Northern Ireland consolidating and strengthening legislation regarding "fair employment".^[1]

Provisions

The Order established the

• statutory monitoring of the part-time workforce
• outlawing of discrimination on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion in the provision of goods, facilities and services

Amendments

Fair Employment (School Teachers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022

The Fair Employment (School Teachers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 amended the Order to remove the exemption that teachers had from the legislation^[2] The exemption of teachers from the original legislation was described as an anachronism which justified discrimination.^[3]

The Catholic Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, has supported the legislation, and said the exemption was "no longer appropiate or required" and also described the assumption that everyone was either a Catholic or a Protestant as bizarre, while also noting concerns the move could be used as a "Trojan horse" to remove a Catholic ethos in schools.^[4] Arlene Foster had supported removing the exemption in 2021.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Russell . Raymond T . 2012-08-10 . Fair Employment in Northern Ireland: the decades of change (1990 – 2010) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150915111114/https://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/publications/2012/general/12112.pdf . 2015-09-15 . 2024-10-04 . Northern Ireland Assembly.
2. News: Meredith . Robbie . 2021-10-26 . NI education: Teachers' fair employment law exemption 'outdated' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220329102340/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-59042287 . 2022-03-29 . 2024-10-04 . BBC News.
3. News: Meredith . Robbie . 2019-05-13 . Teachers 'should be covered by fair employment laws' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190517061233/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-48260051 . 2019-05-17 . 2024-10-04 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation.
4. News: Meredith . Robbie . 2022-02-24 . Fair employment legislation: Bishop backs ending teacher exemption . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220224090920/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-60500242 . 2022-02-24 . 2024-10-04 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation.
5. News: Meredith . Robbie . 2021-04-20 . Teacher fair employment law exemption needs addressed, says Foster . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210420062721/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56805201 . 2021-04-20 . 2024-10-04 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation.