Vol. 409 No. 2
27 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Labour if his attention has been drawn to the anomaly which arises in the application of the Holiday (Employees) Act, 1973, to regular part-time employees as proposed in the Worker Protection (Regular Part-Time Employees) Act, 1991; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I am aware that there is an apparent anomaly in the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973, whereby an employee who would not normally be expected to work on a public holiday still benefits from that public holiday. However, this anomaly can arise both in the case of part-time and full-time employees, although I do accept that it is more likely to arise in the case of part-time employees.
The provision was originally intended to ensure that employers could not reschedule an employee's working hours so that they would not benefit from a public holiday and, accordingly, it still has some merit. However, because it does give rise to some anomalous situations, I will have it looked at in the context of the proposed review of the Holidays (Employees) Act which is part of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress.
