Some measures are allowed under the Equal Status Acts if they are positive actions designed to promote equal opportunity for people who fall under one or more protected grounds
What is positive action?
Positive action means taking steps to enable more people from protected groups to take part in various areas of life. For example, trade unions might run campaigns to encourage women and minority groups to work in fields traditionally dominated by white men.
Other examples of positive action include:
- Gender quotas in political parties
- Designated parking spaces for people with disabilities
- Additional resources or training opportunities for disadvantaged groups in employment (such as English classes for refugees)
- Grants or subsidies for students from backgrounds where few people expect to stay in education after the age of 16
- Mentoring schemes for women in business
- Programmes to get more women and girls into sports
- Concessionary fares on transport for older and younger people
- Special facilities for breastfeeding
Must service providers take positive action?
The Acts only allow for positive action to be taken. They do not require it. It is not possible to complain under the Acts on the grounds that a service provider has failed to take positive action to help you, as it has no legal duty to do so.
This is different to where you have a disability and request reasonable accommodation from a service provider. For further information on this situation, please see our separate guide on Reasonable Accommodation.
How does positive action work?
Where service providers treat certain people more favourably than others, they may be able to argue that they are doing so to offer fairer opportunities for people who come under one or more protected grounds If the service provider can demonstrate the need for positive action the positive action will not be considered discriminatory under the Equal Status Acts