asked the Minister for Labour what provision is made in the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, for the recovery of moneys awarded to a redundant worker on appeal.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Redundancy Payments.
65.
When the Redundancy Appeals Tribunal decides in an employee's favour, the employer is liable for payment of the lump sum. If an employer refuses or fails to pay, I will have the amount paid from the Redundancy Fund and then recover the appropriate amount from the employer on behalf of the Fund.
Is there any procedure by which applications are made to the Minister's Department because an inquiry from my trade union recently to the Department only elicited the information that the person concerned should sue the employer at common law?
That would be very wrong information.
That information was conveyed only last week.
If an award is made an employer is told that his responsibility is to pay the lump sum and he is warned that if he does not pay it, it will be paid from the Redundancy Fund and that he may suffer for not paying it by having the amount of the rebates which employers get reduced accordingly. The employee should not be at any inconvenience whatever. He should get money from me or from the employer.
What would the Minister consider a reasonable period to wait or could the Minister quote the section of the Act dealing with this?
We are learning as we go along. We have decided that if the employer has not paid within three weeks that the Minister should pay and that the employer may suffer a reduction in his rebate.
Am I to understand that what the Minister infers here is that an official of his Department will follow the matter through to ensure that the employer pays?
I think I made it clear that the employee should not be inconvenienced. If an employer does not pay the employee should be able to get the money from the Department of Labour.
An official of the Department will pursue the matter and it will not be left to the employee to pursue it?
He will have to report to us through the employment exchange for instance.
Could the Minister give any idea of the average length of time taken for an appeal to go through?
I should want notice of that. It depends on a lot of things.