Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2015
445. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to institute a system of sanctions for employers who do not pay redundancy payments in cases in which they have been ordered to do so by the Labour Court or by the Employment Appeals Tribunal. [31090/15]
View answerThe Workplace Relations (WR) Act 2015, which was signed into law on 20th May, reforms the State’s existing employment rights and industrial relations structures. It provides for a new two-tier Workplace Relations structure comprising the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court to replace the current five bodies. While a number of technical and operational provisions of the Act were commenced on 1st August, the majority of the provisions, including those related to the new structures, will be commenced on 1st October. Under the WR Act, claims under the Redundancy Payments Act can be made to a Workplace Relations Commission Adjudicator in the first instance, with a right of appeal to the Labour Court.
The WR Act provides for a range of enhanced compliance measures, together with a more effective and streamlined system for the enforcement of awards from Workplace Relations Commission Adjudicators and/or the Labour Court via the District Court.
Section 43 of the Act provides that where a complaint which has been upheld at first instance by an Adjudicator, and has not been appealed by either party, remains unimplemented after a period of 56 days, the complainant concerned, a trade union or excepted body acting on behalf of the complainant, or the WRC in certain circumstances, may apply to the District Court for an order directing the employer to carry out the decision in accordance with its terms. Section 45 makes similar provision in respect of Labour Court decisions which remain unimplemented after a period of 42 days.
Section 51 of the Act 2015 provides that it will be an offence for a party who is so directed by the District Court to pay compensation to a complainant but who fails to do so, except in circumstances where that respondent can demonstrate to the Court that his/her failure to pay the compensation was due to his/her inability to pay. I consider that this new enforcement mechanism will prove to be a very effective deterrent to respondents in employment rights proceedings who fail to pay awards made by an employment rights body.
I am confident that the new compliance and enforcement measures provided for in the Workplace Relations Act will result in more proportionate, efficient and effective enforcement of employment law, including rights provided for in the Redundancy Payments Act.
