Graphite Workshops

• Selection Interviewing Skills - One Day workshop, 8th February 2007
• Coaching Skills for Managers - One Day workshop, 13th February 2007
• Performance Management and Goal Setting - One Day workshop, 20th February 2007
• Absence Management - One Day workshop, 21st February 2007
• Implications of Employment Law - One Day workshop, 6th March 2007
• Managing Discipline and Grievance - One Day workshop, 7th March 2007

Please refer to the Graphite website for more information on these workshops (www.graphitehrm.com).

Please note that places are limited on all workshops. For further information, or to make a booking, please contact Fran on 01 - 6627099 or fran.graydon@graphitehrm.com

Employment Law Update

• Summary of the Employment Permits Act 2006
• National Minimum Wage Increases 2007

HR News

• Government Attention on Employment Law Compliance
• Employment Appeals Tribunal Annual Report 2005

Graphite Consultation Queries

• One of my employees is going on maternity leave at the end of the month. I know this is due to change, so how many weeks of maternity leave is she entitled to?

• Do we have to pay people in line with the relevant Joint Labour Committee’s terms and conditions, even though we are not unionised?

Summary of the Employment Permits Act 2006

The Minister of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will launch new economic immigration arrangements including green cards, work permits and intra-company transfers on 24th January 2007.  These will be introduced from 1st February 2007.

In this article, we summarise the main points of the Employment Permits Act 2006.  This Act amends the Employment Permits Act 2003. The 2006 Act seeks to regularise the employment of all foreign nationals in Ireland, and sets out new procedures relating to the granting and processing of work permits for the employment of foreign nationals. 

Nationals of Bulgaria and Romania are EU nationals since 1st January 2007, but are still required to have a permit to work in Ireland. 

The Act applies to all foreign nationals including those working in Ireland for a sub-contractor and identifies where responsibility lies for complying with this. It also extends the penalties for contravening various provisions of the Act with regard to the processing and usage of employment permits. 

Article Location: Login to the Client Zone > Click Recruitment and select article from under Employment Law Update.

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National Minimum Wage Increases 2007

From 1st January 2007, the National Minimum Wage increases from €7.65 to €8.30 per hour.

The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 applies to all employees who have been in employment of any kind for any two years over the age of 18.  There are some exceptions to this.  These exceptions include those who are employed by a close relative, or those who are engaged in statutory apprenticeships.  Also, some employees, such as those who are under 18 or are trainees, are only guaranteed a reduced or sub-minimum rate of the national minimum wage.

A full table outlining employee entitlements under the increases of 1st January 2007 and 1st July 2007 are available on Graphite’s website.

Article Location: Login to the Client Zone > Click Payment of Wages, and select article from Employment Law Update.

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Government Attention on Employment Law Compliance

The Government has commenced appointments to the National Employment Rights Authority to increase the level of monitoring and compliance with employment rights within Ireland.

In January 2007 the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced that Mr Ger Deering, currently the Commissioner for Taxi Regulation, has been selected to be the Director of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA).  Mr Deering will take up his post from 12th February.

The NERA was established as part of the ‘Towards 2016’ Social Partnership Agreement.  The Social Partners recognised that while there was a broad level of compliance with employment rights across the economy, a commitment was required to securing enhanced compliance with employment rights, which would be underpinned by adequate enforcement.

The Minister confirmed that the Government will make available to the Director of the NERA all the staffing and other resources required to deliver the employment compliance regime outlined in ‘Towards 2016’.  The Minister wants the NERA to be immediately operational so that it will assemble its resources to enable it to meet its agreed capabilities within the time-frame envisaged in ‘Towards 2016’.  The Minister stated that it is his intention to establish the NERA and its Advisory Board on an interim basis pending the introduction of legislation on employment rights compliance.

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Employment Appeals Tribunal Annual Report 2005

The annual report of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) for 2005 has been published. The EAT is a quasi-judicial body whose function is to adjudicate on disputes relating to individual employment rights. 

The Chairperson highlighted that the Tribunal disposed of an all-time high of 1,381 unfair dismissal cases in 2005, which was a slight increase from 2004 when 1,363 unfair dismissal cases were disposed of.

In 2005 the Tribunal awarded compensation amounting to €1,775,975 in 196 cases.  Re-instatement was ordered in 3 cases and re-engagement was ordered in 2 cases. A further breakdown of these figures is included in this article.

Article Location: Login to the Client Zone > Click Termination of Employment and select article from Additional Reading

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For Premium and Premium Plus customers, Graphite provides a HR Consultation Service. As part of our regular monthly review in HR e-ssentials Graphite HRM provides you with an insight into the type of queries we get through this consultation service.

Question: One of my employees is going on maternity leave at the end of the month. I know this is due to change, so how many weeks of maternity leave is she entitled to?

Answer: An employee commencing maternity leave before 1st March 2007 is entitled to 22 weeks maternity leave. An employee commencing additional maternity leave before 1st March 2007 is entitled to up to 12 weeks additional maternity leave.

With the upcoming increase to maternity leave, however, a person who commences maternity leave on or after 1st March 2007 will be entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave. Also, with regard to additional maternity leave, an employee whose additional maternity leave starts on or after 1st March 2007 will be entitled to the increased additional maternity leave of up to 16 weeks.

In relation to the specific query above, then, the employee in question will be entitled to 22 weeks maternity leave, as their leave is due to commence at the end of January 2007. They will, however, be entitled to the increased level of additional maternity leave (up to 16 weeks), as their additional maternity leave will not commence until after 1st March 2007.

An employee must notify the employer of their intention to take the additional maternity leave at least 4 weeks before their additional maternity leave would be due to start.

To read more about maternity leave, see Chapter 11, Leave of Absence, in Personnel Policies and Procedures - the law in perspective.

Question: Do we have to pay people in line with the relevant Joint Labour Committee's terms and conditions, even though we are not unionised?

Answer: Joint Labour Committee's (JLC) set the minimum rates of pay and other terms and conditions of employment for workers in certain specific sectors. 

In relation to the query above, these rates of pay and terms and conditions apply regardless of whether the employees are members of a trade union or not. 

Each JLC agreement will contain a description of the workers to whom the agreement applies, and it will then apply to any worker who meets those criteria.  Currently there are 19 JLCs in existence.

There are JLCs in the following sectors:

• Aerated Waters & Wholesale Bottling Sector
• Agricultural Workers
• Brush and Broom
• Catering (Dublin and Dun Laoghaire)
• Catering (Other)
• Contract Cleaning (Dublin)
• Contract Cleaning (Other)
• Hairdressing (Cork)
• Hairdressing (Dublin, Dun Laoghaire and Bray)
• Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods
• Hotels (Dublin and Dun Laoghaire)
• Hotels (Other excluding Cork)
• Law Clerks
• Provender Milling
• Retail Grocery and Allied Trades
• Security Industry
• Shirtmaking
• Tailoring
• Women's Clothing and Millinery

If your organisation falls under any of the above sectors you should examine the relevant JLC agreement in detail and ensure that you are fulfilling requirements with regard to terms and conditions.  For more information refer to The Labour Court website (www.labourcourt.ie).

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