The Government's legislation to give employers 'fire at will' rights over employees in their first 90 days of work gives a nod and a wink to prejudice in employment, and is a giant stride backwards for human rights, the Green Party says.
Green Party Rainbow Issues Spokesperson Kevin Hague pointed out that although the proposed legislation does not alter the fact that discrimination in employment is prohibited on the grounds of sexual orientation, the reality is that an employer who wishes to act in a discriminatory manner could simply deny that this was the reason for dismissal, giving the sacked employee effectively no legal recourse.
"This is particularly a problem for those with personal characteristics that are not immediately visible. It's not just sexual orientation, but also grounds like family status, health status (including HIV infection), disability, or religious or ethical belief.
"A prejudiced employer may find out that the person he or she recently hired is gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender or has HIV, and could fire that person stating that the dismissal is because of other reasons. So long as the discrimination is not blatant, the employee will have no legal remedy."
Mr. Hague says it is hard to tell whether this was the Government's intention or simply an inadvertent consequence of the rushed process being used for the Bill.
"The Government did not have this change included in its programme for 'first 100 days', and only made copies of the Bill available just before midnight on Wednesday. It is intending to pass the Bill into law under urgency, meaning that there will be no Select Committee scrutiny of it, and no opportunity for the public to read, let alone comment on it."
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