asked the Minister for Social Welfare if under the Factories Acts an employer must stamp wet-time cards in addition to unemployment cards for his employees who work wholetime indoors.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Stamping of Wet-Time Cards.
45.
The Factories Acts have no application to "Wet-Time" insurance nor does an employer's obligations in relation to such insurance depend on the employee's place of work. Briefly, the position is that under the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Acts, known as the "Wet-Time" Acts, all manual workers of 16 years of age and over who are employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship in the building, civil engineering, or painting trades must, unless the employment is specifically excluded, be insured under the Acts. Questions of insurability for "Wet-Time" purposes are dealt with under the system of deciding officers and appeals officers set up under the Social Welfare Acts. The factors affecting insurability can vary greatly from case to case and in the case which the Deputy has in mind it would be advisable for the employer if he is in doubt to apply to my Department for a formal decision in the matter.