A total of 688 employment-equality complaints were dealt with by the WRC from January to June this year.

Anna Perry (acting director general) said that the WRC was committed to publishing these statistics every six months, broken down into nine grounds of discrimination.

Perry said that the three leading grounds for complaints submitted during the first six months of 2023 were disability (24%), closely followed by gender (21%), followed by race at 15%.

It was too early to say if this trend would change for the remainder of the year, she said.

More than one ground

Of the 466 employment equality complaints received, some complainants chose more than one ground to make their specific complaint.

A total of 222 equal-status complaints related to the provision of goods and services.

Making a complaint is free and can be done online, and both sides can expect the WRC to give them both a hearing and a decision promptly, Perry said.