Databank of Questions and Answers
Every day Graphite's Telephone Consultation service takes questions on different HR-related matters relevant to HR Professionals and People Managers. This Databank holds the most interesting and important questions we receive on a regular basis.
To research a particular issue, simply click on the Heading most relevant to your subject. If you cannot find your answer here, give us a call on 01-662 7099.
Alternatively, if you haven't found an answer to your query here, you can submit your question in the space below. We will not be able to answer all questions submitted, but we will endeavour to answer as many as possible and will focus on those which recur or are particularly significant for a large proportion of employers. These questions will be added to the Databank under the appropriate Heading.
Furthermore, we will continue to add new Q&As as common or complex queries come in through our Telephone Consultation service.
Contracts
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I have an employee who was hired in November 2008 on a fixed-term contract for 6 months to cover maternity leave. The fixed-term contract was then extended for a period of 4 months as the employee on maternity leave decided to take additional maternity leave and at that point a letter was issued extending the end date. The employee on additional maternity leave then went on a period of sick leave, following her additional maternity leave and so the fixed-term employee was kept on, on a new fixed term contract.
Can you please confirm if the temporary employee must now be issued with a permanent contract as the fixed-term employee is now on her third fixed-term contract? - We are considering offering reduced terms and conditions to staff - what are our options if they don't take it?
- I currently have an employee working on a fixed-term contract who has informed me that she is pregnant and will be going on maternity leave in 6 weeks. However her fixed-term contract is not due to expire until 31st December 2009.
Please advise when this employee's contract will now expire? - I want my employees to be available to work on Sundays - can I insist that they do so?
- It has recently been brought to my attention that an employee has been working for a competitor. Can I insist that she stops working for the competitor or can I terminate the contract?
- I want to recruit someone who will be available to work for up to 16 hours per week, but there may not always be work for him/her to do. During weeks in which there is no work, the employee will not be required to attend work and will not be paid. Can I do this?
- We would like to recruit some workers to cover the busy summer period in our organisation. A number of applications have come in from individuals who are under-18. Am I allowed to employee someone who is under 18 years of age?
- I have a number of locums that work for the company on an ad hoc basis. Are we obliged to deduct any taxes from their payment?
- In an organisation with 3 part time staff (in excess of 3 years experience) and the rest full time, the 3 part time staff have been arbitrarily informed that they are being reassigned to duties normally conducted by junior staff. There was no consultation regarding the change of duties. Do the employees have any recourse under employment legislation?
- Do we have to pay people in line with the relevant Joint Labour Committee's terms and conditions, even though we are not unionised?
- Do I have to provide my employees with an employment contract?
- We have had a downturn in business and are considering implementing lay-offs or short-time working. What would these actions entail?
- We are hiring a 16 year old student to cover holidays during the school holiday period this summer. Are there any specific restrictions around the employment of somebody this age?
- All our employees have one month's notice in their contract of employment. What can we do about an employee who left after only giving us one week's notice?
- A part-time employee recently claimed that he was entitled to be paid an overtime premium having worked hours in excess of his normal part-time working hours. However, it is our practice not to pay an overtime premium until a part-time employee has completed the hours of full-time employees. Are we correct in continuing this practice?
- We are hiring a number of employees for the summer to provide cover for holiday periods. Is there any specific legislation we need to consider in relation to these employees?
- What process should I follow if I need to make changes to an employee's contract of employment?
- My staff have email accounts and internet access through computers they use at work. I don't have a policy on this, is it recommended that I put one in place?
- During an investigation into a complaint of bullying and harassment, the employee against whom the allegation was made has made a data access request; what access to personal data has to be provided to the employee?
- An employee has requested access to their personnel file; do I have to give them access and what is the procedure for this?
- I have received a formal complaint of harassment from an employee. What do I need to do to address this?
- We have a retirement policy in place whereby all employees must retire on their 65th Birthday. However an employee has requested that they work beyond this. Can you advise are we at risk if we allow this?
- Some of my employees have complained about the personal hygiene of a colleague. They have asked me to address it with the individual - how should I approach such a sensitive matter?
- I have been told that should an allegation of bullying or harassment be made as a result of behaviour at the Christmas Party, an employee can use the Company's Dignity at Work Policy to pursue this complaint. What can I do to try to prevent inappropriate behaviour at this type of event, and protect the business from such allegations?
- Our organisation uses the words "Bullying" and "Harassment" interchangeably. Is there a distinction between the two and how can I tell the difference?
- Can I avoid liability in harassment claims if I have implemented a Dignity at Work Policy in my organisation?
- During an investigation into a complaint of bullying and harassment, the employee against whom the allegation was made has made a data access request; what access to personal data has to be provided to the employee?
- What does the Equality Tribunal Mediation option entail?
- An employee has informed us that they wish to bring a family member, who is also a solicitor, to a Disciplinary Hearing next week. Should we allow this?
- We have scheduled a disciplinary hearing for an employee who has informed us that they wish to bring a solicitor to the hearing. Do we have to allow the solicitor to attend? Please advise?
- I gave an employee a verbal warning for lateness which expired 2 months ago. The employee has started turning up late for work again and I want to invoke the disciplinary procedure. Can I go straight to a first written warning?
- I am currently going through the disciplinary process with an employee and the organisation is now faced with making this position redundant. Do I abandon the disciplinary procedure and proceed with redundancy?
- Some of my employees have complained about the personal hygiene of a colleague. They have asked me to address it with the individual - how should I approach such a sensitive matter?
- It has recently been brought to my attention that an employee has been working for a competitor. Can I insist that she stops working for the competitor or can I terminate the contract?
- What are the main stages of the disciplinary process that should be contained in a Disciplinary Procedure?
- What are the main criteria to enable an employer to ensure that fair procedures have been followed when invoking the disciplinary procedure?
- Our organisation has 140 employees and is now covered by the Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act, 2006. We have not yet been asked to provide Information and Consultation arrangements under the legislation by our employees. However, we would like to initiate the process ourselves, as the employer. What do we need to think about?
- My staff have email accounts and internet access through computers they use at work. I don't have a policy on this, is it recommended that I put one in place?
- Under the Information and Consultation legislation, are we required to put a consultation procedure in place for our staff?
- How do I find out if a job applicant is legally entitled to work in Ireland?
- Foreign Nationals - what is the list of countries for which employees do not require employment permits to work in Ireland?
- We have recently received a doctor's certificate from an employee who is on sick leave that states 'workplace stress' as the illness. Can you advise on how we should manage this?
- Is it true that legislation requires our company to train staff in Fire Safety and First Aid?
- Is the employer always liable for the stress of employees?
- We have a number of foreign nationals in our company. Do we have to translate our Safety Statement?
- What should I do with an employee who does not want to come into work on their time off to attend Health and Safety training?
- Now that Civil Partnership has become law in Ireland, I have one employee in a same sex relationship who wishes to apply for Marriage Leave next year. I'm unsure what my requirement is under the law? Other complications include who to class as a dependent (in terms of benefits entitlement e.g. company paid health insurance for employees and dependents - normally spouses only and kids) and pension issues. A similar concern is with heterosexual couples (which I believe is covered under the law) - do companies now have to treat 'common law' arrangements the same as they would married couples, or do these common law arrangements need to go through a "civil partnership" to qualify?
- A member of staff has informed me that she cannot carry out part of her role as she is pregnant. What should I do?
- I have heard that the European Court of Justice has said that employees must continue to earn annual leave while on sick leave. We are a private-sector employer and are wondering if we should now start to do this for employees who are absent from the business.
- Please could you clarify the entitlement and payment for Public Holidays over this coming Christmas Period?
- I am an employer and am unsure how to calculate annual leave for my employees? I am also unsure what payment, if any, should be made to employees for this period of annual leave. Can you advise?
- I have an employee who has just informed us that she is pregnant. This situation is unusual because she is currently on Carer's Leave and is not due back for another year. We do not pay for Carer's Leave but we do pay the first 10 weeks of Maternity Leave. How do we handle this situation from a leave perspective?
- We have an employee who is currently taking one day of Parental Leave per week over a 70 week period. He has been asked to cover an extra shift this week. Is he entitled to premium overtime pay or should he be paid at the basic rate?
- If I pay an employee in lieu of notice, is he/she entitled to the annual leave or public holidays which would have accrued had they worked out their notice?
- Can I issue notice of redundancy while an employee is on sick leave?
- One of my employees is applying for Parental Leave to go on a long holiday with his family - I don't think that this is what Parental Leave is for - do I have to allow it?
- We have an employee working a fixed term contract, Monday-Thursday? We give Good Friday as a Company Day and the person has asked to be paid for this - do I have to pay, even though the person is not contracted to work that day?
- One of our employees suffered an injury while working for another employer. They have handed in a medical cert stating that they will be unfit for work for two weeks. Do we have to pay them sick pay?
- 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?
- How do I calculate Annual Leave to ensure all of my employees are receiving their proper statutory entitlement?
- How do I calculate an employee's pay while they are on Annual Leave?
- One of my full-time employees has been on sick leave for 5 months; does this affect their annual leave entitlement?
- One of my team has been out on sick leave, and is not likely to be back for 8 weeks; do I have to pay sick pay?
- Under the Parental Leave Acts, 1998-2006 we are aware that we are obliged to permit an employee to break down their parental leave entitlements into periods of not less than six weeks at a time should the employee request it. However, where an employee is permitted to avail of leave for six weeks, can we restrict when they can next apply for a period of parental leave?
- An employee has asked if he can have Force Majeure Leave to attend to his son's first week of school. He needs to leave at 12pm each day in the first week of school, to pick him up and bring him home.
- We have previously paid employees on maternity leave in full while they were on normal maternity leave (not additional maternity leave), making up the difference between their maternity allowance and their normal pay. The duration of maternity leave has recently been extended; do we have to extend our benefit for these extra weeks?
- An employee who is pregnant wants time off to go to antenatal classes. Do I have to give it to her?
- One of my employees has requested Paternity Leave for the birth of his child. Am I legally obliged to provide paid Paternity Leave?
- Is a male employee who is an expectant father employee entitled to paid time off to attend Ante-natal classes?
- We have been approached by workers and asked for work and they workers do not want to get paid for this? Are we exposed in any way if we didn't pay them?
- I have a number of locums that work for the company on an ad hoc basis. Are we obliged to deduct any taxes from their payment?
- Do we have to pay people in line with the relevant Joint Labour Committee's terms and conditions, even though we are not unionised?
- I have an issue with till shortages in my shop; can I deduct these from my employees' wages?
- In relation to wage slips, what are the full details which we have to provide to each employee? When can we make deductions from an employee's salary?
- How should I record my employee's working hours? The company does not have an automated clock-in/clock-out system, and my employees take their breaks at different times.
- What kind of records might an Employment Law Inspector look for during a visit to my organisation?
- I have been told that I need to keep attendance records for all my employees or I could be fined, is that correct?
- What recruitment records should we keep and how long should we keep them for?
- We placed a job advert last week for a role and we have already received over 150 applications. For the applicants who do not meet our criteria, and will not be called for interview, do we need to keep their CVs and our response letter back to them? Also, do we need to have a written screening template for each of these CVs on which their experience/qualifications were judged, how detailed does it need to be?
- What are the consequences of writing a letter of recommendation on an employee's home page, on websites such as Linkedin or Facebook?
- Can a candidate be screened out of the recruitment process at short-listing stage because they are over-qualified for a job? We are looking for a Graduate trainee and we state in the Job Specification that the position would be suitable for applicants for a Masters or Diploma course. We have received applications from candidates who have already successfully completed these courses and in the circumstances we feel they have an unfair advantage over the candidates we sought to target in the Job Specification.
- We would like to recruit some workers to cover the busy summer period in our organisation. A number of applications have come in from individuals who are under-18. Am I allowed to employee someone who is under 18 years of age?
- How do I find out if a job applicant is legally entitled to work in Ireland?
- Can I set a minimum and maximum age limit when recruiting for a position?
- Foreign Nationals - what is the list of countries for which employees do not require employment permits to work in Ireland?
- What recruitment records should we keep and how long should we keep them for?
- We set a closing date for applications for a post that we advertised recently, however a number of applicants applied after the closing date. Can we still consider them for the role?
- We have an employee who has been absent on sick leave for over two years and has just contacted us to say that she is ready to come back to work. During her time away from the organisation, a lot has changed and we no longer need as many people in her role. What are our options?
- Short time is where pay or hours are reduced by 50%. What if we were to reduce hours from 37.5 to 22.5? Is this still not classed as short time? And can they claim Social Welfare for the reduced hours?
- We need to make redundancies but one of our employees is claiming that we cannot make her redundant as she is pregnant. Is this the case?
- Do we have to inform the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the exact number of employees being made redundant, when we are notifying her of the need to make collective redundancies, or can we say 8 to 12 employees in our letter? If staff members are on holidays when we start the consultation process, can they be served notice in their absence?
- Due to a recent downturn in business, we need to make redundancies. One of the employees who will be affected by the redundancy is currently on Maternity Leave. Can we proceed with making her redundant?
- Can I issue notice of redundancy while an employee is on sick leave?
- We are considering a number of redundancies in our organisation and have been told it might be considered a Collective Redundancy. How do we know if it is a Collective Redundancy and what implications would that have for our processes?
- We have had a downturn in business and are considering implementing lay-offs or short-time working. What would these actions entail?
- We are about to make an employee redundant as a result of losing a contract with one of our customers and we were told that the lump sum paid to her at redundancy can be treated differently for tax purposes. Is this true?
- If I pay an employee in lieu of notice, is he/she entitled to the annual leave or public holidays which would have accrued had they worked out their notice?
- We are considering a number of redundancies in our organisation and have been told it might be considered a Collective Redundancy. How do we know if it is a Collective Redundancy and what implications would that have for our processes?
- We have had a downturn in business and are considering implementing lay-offs or short-time working. What would these actions entail?
- We are about to make an employee redundant as a result of losing a contract with one of our customers and we were told that the lump sum paid to her at redundancy can be treated differently for tax purposes. Is this true?
- All our employees have one month's notice in their contract of employment. What can we do about an employee who left after only giving us one week's notice?
- Please could you clarify the entitlement and payment for Public Holidays over this coming Christmas Period?
- I am an employer and am unsure how to calculate annual leave for my employees? I am also unsure what payment, if any, should be made to employees for this period of annual leave. Can you advise?
- I have an employee who has just informed us that she is pregnant. This situation is unusual because she is currently on Carer's Leave and is not due back for another year. We do not pay for Carer's Leave but we do pay the first 10 weeks of Maternity Leave. How do we handle this situation from a leave perspective?
- We have some full-time and part-time employees whose hours are arranged on a rostering basis and whose days of work will change accordingly. What Public Holiday benefit are these employees entitled to?
- How should I record my employee's working hours? The company does not have an automated clock-in/clock-out system, and my employees take their breaks at different times.
- I want to recruit someone who will be available to work for up to 16 hours per week, but there may not always be work for him/her to do. During weeks in which there is no work, the employee will not be required to attend work and will not be paid. Can I do this?
- We would like to recruit some workers to cover the busy summer period in our organisation. A number of applications have come in from individuals who are under-18. Am I allowed to employee someone who is under 18 years of age?
- Most of our part-time staff work 25 hours a week over 5 days and we currently give them a paid day off on a public holiday. However, we also have some part-time staff working a 3-day week and we are not sure how to compensate them for a public holiday, if at all.
- A machine broke down in our factory last night and one of our employees had to be called in to work at 2am to fix it. He left the factory at 4am and then came into work as normal at 9am. The employee's normal working hours are 9am to 5pm. Has the employee gotten his correct entitlement for daily rest?
- 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?
- How do I calculate Annual Leave to ensure all of my employees are receiving their proper statutory entitlement?
- How do I calculate an employee's pay while they are on Annual Leave?
- I have just received a request for Part-Time Working from an employee. Do I have to grant it?
- One of my full-time employees has been on sick leave for 5 months; does this affect their annual leave entitlement?
- If both Christmas Day and St. Stephens Day fall on normal weekdays, what is an employee's entitlement to a public holiday benefit; also, what happens if they fall on a weekend?
- There are a number of employees in our organisation who have not used their full annual leave entitlement this year. Do these employees simply forfeit these annual leave days, or must we allow them to carry over the days into the next annual leave year?
- I have been told that I need to keep attendance records for all my employees or I could be fined, is that correct?
- An employee commenced employment with us five months ago and has now requested 2 weeks continuous annual leave; are we obliged to facilitate the request?
- We are hiring a 16 year old student to cover holidays during the school holiday period this summer. Are there any specific restrictions around the employment of somebody this age?
- What are the entitlements of a part-time employee in relation to Public Holidays?
- Can an employer provide an employee with pay in lieu for their holiday entitlement?
- An employee recently returned from annual leave and has requested that his absence be treated as sick leave, as he was ill during his holiday. Does an employee have a right to have their annual leave treated in such a manner?
- A part-time employee recently claimed that he was entitled to be paid an overtime premium having worked hours in excess of his normal part-time working hours. However, it is our practice not to pay an overtime premium until a part-time employee has completed the hours of full-time employees. Are we correct in continuing this practice?
- We want to introduce a summer shut-down for a two-week period in August this year; can we ask our staff to schedule their holidays and thereby use their annual leave entitlement during this period?
- One of my employees is applying for Parental Leave to go on a long holiday with his family - I don't think that this is what Parental Leave is for - do I have to allow it?
- I have just received a request for Part-Time Working from an employee. Do I have to grant it?
- An employee has asked if he can have Force Majeure Leave to attend to his son's first week of school. He needs to leave at 12pm each day in the first week of school, to pick him up and bring him home.
