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Joint Labour Committees Abolition

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2013

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Questions (109)

Michael McCarthy

Question:

109. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to his recent announcement regarding the re-introduction of the joint labour committee system in a reduced and amended manner, if he will provide clarification regarding his intention to abolish the joint labour committees that deal with terms and conditions for staff in the hotel sector in Dublin; the impact of this on the hotel sector outside of Dublin and in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43562/13]

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Written answers

On 1 October last, I published the Report of the Labour Court’s Review of the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) system. The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012 provides that reviews of each JLC be carried out by the Labour Court, as soon as practicable after the commencement of the Act, and at least once every 5 years thereafter. The review assisted the Labour Court’s deliberations as to whether any JLC should be abolished, maintained in its current form, amalgamated with another JLC or its establishment order amended and the Labour Court is required to make recommendations to me to this effect.

The usual practice in JLCs in terms of convening meetings is for the worker representatives to seek a meeting to review pay and conditions of employment in terms of the remit of the particular JLC. The Labour Court report noted that, prior to 2011 when the existing JLCs were suspended, there were no meetings of the JLC for hotels in Dublin. This implied that for 14 years there had been no requirement for a JLC for Dublin or related Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) to provide protection for workers in hotels in the Dublin area. In effect, there has never been a operational JLC for hotels in Dublin.

Accordingly, as the JLC for Dublin and Dun Laoghaire hotels was never active, the Labour Court concluded that there was no demand for such in Dublin, (or in the County Borough of Cork, which has never been encompassed by a hotel JLC), and therefore it should be abolished

The Hotels (Other excluding Cork) JLC is to be retained, with an amended ERO to provide clarity as to what employees it applies to.

The amended Establishment Order for a Hotels JLC will take account of hotel employees that work in leisure facilities and those employed by the hotel or a related business engaged in the provision of personal services such as health, and beautician services provided on the premises to customers of the hotel, as well as ‘outdoor grounds workers’ and is aimed at reflecting a more accurate picture of the services hotels offer today.

This amendment provides clarity to who is covered by the JLC and removes the ‘incidental’ wording previously used to encompass hotel employees who worked in the range of services provided by hotels.

The Report of the Labour Court sits very much within the context of the continuous process of reform in an area of industrial relations and wage setting whose objective is balancing improvement in Ireland's competitiveness by enhancing wage flexibility while also ensuring protection for vulnerable workers.

The Industrial Relations Act, 2012, was very much part of the process of reform and introduced flexibility for employers in the context of JLCs and Establishment Orders and set specific parameters within which JLCs can operate.

For example, in proposing EROs that will give general effect to JLC proposals, the Labour Court must have regard to the legitimate interests of employers and workers, including:

- the financial and commercial interests of the employers,

- the desirability of agreeing and maintaining efficient and sustainable work practices,

- the desirability of maintaining competitiveness,

- the desirability of agreeing and maintaining fair and sustainable minimum rates of remuneration appropriate to the sector,

- the levels of employment and unemployment in the sector in question,

- the general level of wages in comparable sectors, and

- The current national minimum hourly rate of pay, and the appropriateness of fixing a higher statutory minimum hourly rate of pay.

The Act also made provision to introduce enhanced flexibility for employers to enable them respond to changing economic circumstances in that companies are able to derogate from EROs in cases of financial difficulty. The scope of JLCs has been narrowed in that JLCs no longer set conditions of employment covered by universal standards provided for in existing legislation. In particular they will not set Sunday premium rates. In addition, record-keeping requirements for employers in the sectors covered by JLCs have been reduced.

It is important to remember that the JLC Establishment Orders envisaged will provide only a framework within which employers and employee representatives can come together voluntarily and negotiate terms and conditions of workers in their respective sector. For vulnerable workers, the advantage of JLCs is that they see fair terms and conditions such as wage rates, sick pay etc. agreed and given effect by ERO, while for some employers, the advantage of the JLC system, based as it is on the principle of self-governance, means that they can agree and set minimum pay and conditions, agree on work practices which are custom-made to their industry – a flexibility which cannot be achieved by primary legislation. Where both parties to a JLC see commonality of purpose and outcome then an agreement may emerge.

In addition, a key element of the reforms provided for in the Act is the introduction of provisions to ensure comprehensive Oireachtas and Ministerial oversight of the JLC system.

This process sits very much within the context of Ireland's voluntarist system of industrial relations.

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