Equality Commission Northern Ireland

TEL 028 90 500 600

Employers & service providers

Delivering equality

Want to stay on the right side of the law? We support businesses and public authorities and help them to promote good practice.

Register with the Commission

What you need to know

Employer Registration

Employers with 11 or more full-time employees working 16 hours or more per week are required to register with the Equality Commission.

However, designated public authorities are automatically registered with the Commission. See the full list (pdf).

The Equality Commission has no powers to designate public authorities; this power rests with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Section 75 (3) of the Northern Ireland Act sets out the following means by which public authorities can be designated:

(a) any department, corporation or body listed in Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (departments, corporations and bodies subject to investigation) and designated for the purposes of section 75 by order made by the Secretary of State)

b) any body (other than the Equality Commission) listed in Schedule 2 to the Commissioner of Complaints (Northern
Ireland) Order 1996 (bodies subject to investigation)

(c) any department or other authority listed in Schedule 2 to the Ombudsman (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (departments and other authorities subject to investigation);

(d) any other person designated for the purposes of section 75 by order made by the Secretary of State.

If you work for a public authority and would like to check if your organization is registered with the Equality Commission, contact the Commission’s Compliance Manager.

< Monitoring & review

Monitoring >

We believe that helping you promote and encourage good equal opportunities practice is as important as enforcing the equality law. Every year, the Commission helps hundreds of businesses and organisations comply with equality laws.

We recognise that employer needs differ across sectors and businesses – so we tailor our services to meet employers’ varying needs.

Training

We provide high quality training seminars and information sessions to employers on a wide range of equality issues.

These events provide advice and guidance on employers’ duties under current equality laws and on introducing best practice. We recommend that employers carefully consider their needs and choose the seminars and sessions which are of most benefit to them.

Training sessions include:

   • Introduction to understanding equality
   •  Equality training for line managers
   • Recruiting fairly
   • Harassment at work
   •  Pregnancy, maternity and flexible working
   • Mental ill-health at work
   • Promoting disability in the workplace
   • Reasonable steps defence
   • How to complete an Article 55 Review
   • Monitoring form workshops

We are flexible in terms of themes covered and can tailor courses to suit employers’ business needs. Further details are available on our employer training page or contact us Tel: 028 90 500 600, email training@equalityni.org

In-house training

On occasion, the Commission can provide in-house training for organisations. Where the Commission agrees to such a request, we will normally deliver one session to key staff within the organisation and assist them to disseminate the training internally. For in-house training requests, contact Frances Nugent, email training@equalityni.org Tel: 028 90 500600.

Speaking engagments

If you are organising an equality related event, Commission staff can share their expertise to highlight relevant issues in equality law that relate to your business priorities. For further information, contact Paul Oakes poakes@equalityni.org Tel: 028 90 500600.

Employer news eZine

To receive updates on our training seminars, events and employer equality networks sign up to receive our Public Authorities Newsletter using the subscribe button at the bottom of the page.

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