Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2012
199 Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding joint labour committee rates in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33211/12]
View answerJoint Labour Committee, Employment Regulation Orders no longer have the force of law. However, the Government is currently progressing legislation to provide for a new system of Employment Regulation Orders.
The judgment of Mr. Justice Feeney delivered,in the High Court, on the 7th of July 2011 declaring that the provisions of sections 42, 43, and 45 of the 1946 Industrial Relations Act and section 48 of the 1990 Act are invalid having regard to the provisions of Article 15.2.1 of the Constitution of Ireland means that Joint Labour Committee Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) no longer have the force of law.
Accordingly, the rates of pay provided in all ERO's formulated by JLCs ceased to be legally enforceable from the date of the High Court ruling and employees in employment sectors previously regulated by ERO's now come within the ambit and the pay rates provided for under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.
Contractual entitlements which employees enjoyed prior to 7th July 2011 remain protected by law unless changed by agreement with employers. An employee's rate of pay is a term/condition of their contract of employment (employees have a contract of employment or terms of employment whether notified in writing or not). Any change in an employee's terms or conditions of employment would normally be by agreement between the parties. Such agreement can be expressed or implied, tacit or by acquiescence (i.e it can be formally agreed, informally or verbally agreed or accepted by the employee).
Any dispute arising in relation to the operation of employment contracts/conditions falls to be settled either between the parties involved or by availing of the State's industrial relations dispute settlement machinery as provided for under the Industrial Relations Acts. In the event of the parties being unable to resolve a dispute relating to conditions of employment, it is open to the parties to refer the matter to the Labour Relations Commission for investigation under the Industrial Relations Acts (for such an investigation to commence the consent of both parties to participate is required).
The Payment of Wages Act 1991 provides that non-payment of wages or any deficiency in the amount of wages properly payable by an employer to an employee is regarded as an unlawful deduction from wages unless the deficiency or non-payment is attributable to an error of computation.
If an employee considers a reduction in their wages to be an improper deduction from wages or non-payment of wages, the employee may consider referring a complaint to a Rights Commissioner under the Payment of Wages Act
Alternatively if an employee considers a reduction to be a breach of their employment contract they may seek redress for breach of contract in the civil courts.
The Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011, published on 22 December 2011, is progressing through the legislative process. The main purpose of the Bill is to implement the commitment in the Programme for Government to reform the Joint Labour Committee system. The Bill provides for the more comprehensive measures required to strengthen the legal framework for the EROs and Registered Employment Agreement sectoral wage setting mechanisms, under the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 to 2004, in the light of deficiencies in the original legislation.
