Employment
The most radical employment law measure in Ireland was the introduction
of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 which effectively legislates
for the concept of “unfair dismissal” as formulated
by the International Labour Organisation. Overall Ireland has
achieved a reasonable balance between the rights of employers
and the rights of employees.
Collective employment issues
Ireland has a well-developed and sophisticated system of a Labour
Court and the Labour Relations Commission. Secondary picketing
and other forms of disruptive industrial action are not permitted
and the Courts will grant injunctions to restrain such conduct.
Trade Unions require a negotiating licence. As a result of the
various industrial relations acts, Ireland has achieved a very
high standard of harmonious industrial relations and unofficial
or “wild cat” strikes are now exceptional.
Employment Law and Indivuals
Ireland has a well-developed but reasonably balanced system of
employment law protecting the rights of individual employees.
The following is a very brief description of the most important
legislation.
The Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973 and the
Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994.
This legislation prescribes, in accordance with standards
applicable in the EU the information concerning the terms and
conditions of employment of an employee (to be set out in writing)
and the minimum notice to which an employee will be entitled in
the event of termination of employment.
Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997
This Act transposes into Irish law EU Council Directive 93/104/EC
on the maximum working hours. Consequently, Irish law is similar
to the law of the rest of the EU.
Parental Leave Act, 1998 and Adoptive Leave Act, 1995
This legislation is broadly reflective of European standards and
is not regarded as exceptionally onerous.
Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996
This sets out minimum ages of employees of persons for particular
employments.
Protecting Employees (Part -Time Work) Act 2001
With the passage of this piece of legislation part time workers
are entitled to the same conditions of employment on a pro rata
basis to those of comparable full time employees. This would include
the provision of sick pay, health insurance and share options.
Worker Protection (Regular Part-Time Employee) Act, 1991
This legislation imposes non-onerous standards of employment rights
protection in relation to part-time employees who previously would
not have had sufficient hours of work per week to qualify for
the full protection of other protective legislation.
Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2001
Apart from special legislative provisions dealing with collective
redundancies, these Acts govern the procedures and entitlements
of employees in the event of termination of employment due to
redundancy. Redundancy is defined in the generally internationally
acknowledged sense. Statutory redundancy rights are very limited
amounting to one week wages/salary per year of employment plus
a half a week wages/salary for every year of employment under
the age of 40 with the particular employer and one week per every
year of employment after the age of 40. Due to the restrictive
benefits of Irish redundancy legislation, voluntary redundancy
packages are now the norm and generally speaking, companies will
negotiate (excepting in the case of insolvency) redundancy settlements
varying between 3 weeks to 6 weeks remuneration per year of service
(irrespective of age) but with certain discounts for older employees
approaching retirement.
Ireland is presently reviewing the Council Directive on the approximation
of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies
(Directive 98/59/EC) but there is a view that many of the obligations
under this Directive have already been given effect to by the
Protection of Employment Act, 1997 and the Regulations thereunder
being the Protection of Employment Act, 1977 (Notification of
Proposed Collective Redundancies) Regulations (SI 1977 No. 140).
Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 and Unfair Dismissals (Amendment)
Act 1993
Except for dismissals motivated by the pregnancy of the employee,
racial or other discriminatory factors, trade union activism,
qualification for protection of unfair dismissal legislation in
Ireland is based on achieving 52 weeks continuous service.
The relevant legislation is the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 and
the Unfair Dismissals (Amendment) Act, 1993.
There is a statutory ceiling on compensation based on 2 year gross
income but the median award of the Employment Appeals Tribunal
is in the region of €14,000. Approximately one third of cases
brought by employees are successful. Compensation is payable only
for proven loss of income due to dismissal.
The
Employment Equality Act, 1998
Ireland
has a significant corpus of legislation prohibiting discrimination
on the grounds of race, gender, religion or nationality. The provisions
of Council Directive 75/117/EEC on the approximation of the laws
of the Member States relating to the application of a principle
of equal pay for men and women, has been transposed into Irish
Law by the Employment Equality Act, 1998 which has rendered unlawful
any gender based discrimination.
Maternity rights, Transfer of Assets of a Company, Human Rights
legislation
Maternity Rights
The Maternity Protection Act, 1994 and a considerable amount of
secondary legislation provide substantial protection for working
mothers. Maternity leave is now paid leave of 18 weeks with an
optional 8 weeks of unpaid leave although Irish employers and
international employers located in Ireland will readily pay the
additional one month remuneration for the unpaid leave period.
Transfer of Assets of a Company
Due to Ireland’s membership of the EU, Ireland has transposed
into domestic law, the provisions of the earlier Council Directive
on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to
the safeguarding of employees rights in the event of transfers
of undertakings, businesses or parts of business. This has been
done by secondary legislation, the European Communities (Safeguarding
of Employees’ Rights on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations,
1980.
Effectively, where a business or portion of the business assets
are to be transferred, employees will have the right to be transferred
in their employment to the new entity.
This is a complex area of law but the relevant decisions of Ireland’s
specialised Employment Appeals Tribunal are in line with the jurisprudence
of the European Court of Justice.
Human
Rights legislation
In
an employment context, the most significant legislation in recent
years is the Equal Status Act, 2000, which was brought into force
on the 26th April 2000.
Although
not specifically intended to have a significant effect on employment,
the Equal Status Act has been used by some employees to maintain
claims based on gender, racial discrimination, ethnic origin,
sexual orientation and disability based discrimination.
As
a result of Section 48 of the Equal Status Act, 2000 and the amendments
made to the Employee Equality Act, 1998, many of the deficiencies
in the earlier legislation have been addressed. Ireland now has
a strong and effective body of legislation protecting not only
employment rights but also the general access of minority groups
to goods, provision of services, provision of accommodation, access
to education, access to social clubs, protection against harmful
or malicious advertising and access to licensed premises. In addition,
the Unfair Dismissals Acts have brought into effect legislation
protecting employees against dismissal based on ethnic origin
or sexual orientation.
For further information or general enquiries contact: -
Anthony Layng
Email: alayng@kilroys.ie
or
Kevin O'Gara
E-mail: kogara@kilroys.ie
Telephone: +3531-439 5600
Fax: +3531-439 5601/439 5602
© Kilroys Solicitors 2002 - 2003
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