Geraldine McGahey

The fine was imposed by Northern Ireland’s High Court following a prosecution by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

The Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998 (FETO) requires all registered employers in Northern Ireland with 11 or more employees working 16 hours per week or more to submit annual fair employment monitoring returns to the Equality Commission.

Bank of Ireland failed to submit fair employment returns for the five years from 2021 to 2025.

Geraldine McGahey, chief commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, said: “Compliance with the fair employment legislation is as important today as it was when it was first introduced in 1990.

“The Commission provided employers with some leeway during the Covid period, but it was the failure by the Bank of Ireland to submit their fair employment monitoring returns that led to this prosecution.

“This is not just a paper exercise, nor is it an end in itself. It is the beginning of a process, the starting point for further action.

“Employers are expected to use their monitoring information to determine if they are affording fair participation in the workforce. Each year, the Commission reports on the fair employment trends and assesses if the monitored workforce in Northern Ireland is in line with the composition of all those available for work.

“The Commission provides free and confidential advice to employers to assist them with their legal obligations relating to FETO. But we take non-compliance seriously.

“We will use our enforcement powers when necessary to take action against employers who fail to submit their returns as they are legally required to do so.”