There has been a 70 per cent rise in the number of formal complaints by people claiming they have suffered racial discrimination in the workplace, the Equality Tribunal has revealed.
Publishing new statistics today, the tribunal said claims of discrimination on the grounds of race had risen from 17 per cent in 2004 to 21 per cent last year and that they now account for a third of all claims.
In the first quarter of 2006, race accounted for 29 of the 87 claims under the Employment Equality Acts, followed by gender with 19 complaints.
Seven complaints were made under the Equal Status Acts on race grounds. Disability accounted for ten (25 per cent) of the complaints under the Equal Status Acts in the first quarter.
There was an overall rise of 31 per cent in the number of claims of discrimination made to the Equality Tribunal last year. Overall, the number of cases rose from 483 in 2004 to 631 in 2005, involving more than 1,600 people.
The main grounds in employment claims last year were gender (22 per cent) and race (21 per cent). In equal status the main grounds were disability (20 per cent) and age (17 per cent)."
It was also revealed that the number of complaints upheld by the tribunal actually fell last year. Three out of four complaints of discrimination at work were unsuccessful, and two out of three complaints of discrimination in access to goods and services were not successful.
The tribunal announced today that those who believe they have been discriminated against at work may now fill in a complaint form online. The body has also published a new series of explanatory leaflets with the help of the National Adult Literacy Agency.