I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time.
The Minister for Industry and Commerce is unavoidably engaged and has asked me to take the Second Stage of this Bill.
I should, perhaps, say at the outset that this Bill does not affect agricultural workers. Their holidays are dealt with in separate legislation — the Agricultural Workers (Holidays) Act, 1950. As Deputies know, when the present Bill was introduced, the Minister for Agriculture was given leave to introduce a separate Bill providing for additional holidays for agricultural workers. When I use the expression "all workers" or "workers" it should, therefore, be understood as referring to non-agricultural workers.
The exclusion of agricultural workers from this Bill is by reference to the definition in the 1950 Act. This involves no material change in the present position and such classes of employees as creamery workers will remain within the scope of the present Bill.
Existing legislation providing for holidays for workers had its origin in the Conditions of Employment Act, 1936. This Act provided that industrial workers should get at least one week's annual leave with pay in the year and, in addition, the six public holidays. Two years later, shop workers were given a similar entitlement under the Shops (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1938 but a distinction was made in the case of workers in special classes of shops who would normally have to work on public holidays, for example, refreshment houses and Sunday trading shops. These workers were given a right to two consecutive weeks' annual leave with no entitlement to public holidays.
The Holidays (Employees) Act, 1939, extended the benefit of statutory holidays to all workers whose salary was less than £350 a year, irrespective of the type of employment. This Act provided for seven consecutive days' annual leave plus the public holidays, or compensatory leave or pay for workers who might have to work on a public holiday. The provisions about annual leave in the 1936 Act were repealed and, for annual leave purposes, industrial workers were brought within the scope of the 1939 Act.
Since 1939, a considerable number of workers have, through collective bargaining between trade unions and employers or otherwise, secured an additional week's annual leave. Many workers have a statutory right to this extra leave by virtue of Orders of the Labour Court (made in accordance with proposals of Joint Labour Committees) or by virtue of Agreements registered under the Industrial Relations Act, 1946.
The Government would have preferred if all workers had been able to secure these additional holidays by collective bargaining. However, it is clear that many workers are not in a position to do so. It is mainly to bring the holiday allowance of these workers up to the present accepted standard that the Bill is being introduced.
The Bill is a consolidating and amending measure. It will cover all classes of workers, irrespective of salary or type of employment. It proposes to abolish the distinction in existing legislation between workers who have a separate entitlement to public holidays and workers who have no such entitlement but get additional annual leave. If this distinction were retained, certain employers, for instance those in Sunday trading shops and refreshment houses, would be obliged to give their workers three consecutive weeks' annual leave in the year without any option to give days off, or compensatory pay, in lieu of public holidays. I am satisfied that a greater flexibility than this would be beneficial to both workers and employers.
As I have said, there is no wages ceiling in the new Bill. The figure of £350 specified in the 1939 Act bears little relationship, of course, to present day money values. I had considered the desirability of increasing this figure to, say £800 or £1,000 per annum, but I have now decided that it is not really necessary to prescribe any upper wage limit in the Bill.
The Bill, therefore, proposes that all workers will have a minimum statutory entitlement to two weeks' annual leave each year plus the six public holidays, or compensatory leave or pay for workers who may be required to work on such public holidays. As in existing legislation, the annual leave must normally be given in one continuous period and workers must be paid, in respect of that leave, two weeks' normal wages. However, as at present, domestic workers may be given their leave in two periods of seven consecutive days and domestic workers who are in receipt of lodging may opt to forego annual leave in favour of compensatory payment.
There is no provision in existing legislation for the granting of annual leave of non-domestic workers other than in one continuous period. With the increase in the statutory minimum from seven to fourteen days, it is possible that a case may be made for staggered holidays for some classes of such workers. Section 16 proposes that power be taken to deal with this by regulation.
Some workers get, at present, in addition to one week's annual leave and public holidays, other days off with pay. These days may be Church holidays or other holidays customary in particular parts of the country. I think that many of these workers and their employers would wish to continue such arrangements. Accordingly, the Bill contains a new provision that such extra holidays may be counted as annual leave up to a maximum of seven days in any year.
The Bill re-enacts provisions in existing legislation about the payment to workers, who leave employment before they receive annual leave, of an appropriate proportion of holiday pay. This payment is known as "cesser" pay under the 1939 Act. With the increased annual leave, the amount of cesser pay to which any worker will be entitled in respect of a particular period will, of course, be proportionately higher under the new Bill.
The Bill provides that workers should get six public holidays in the year with pay. In general, under the Conditions of Employment Act, 1936, the carrying on of industrial work on public holidays is prohibited. There are, however, a number of exceptions to this, for example, some types of shift work and work covered by special exclusions. In non-industrial employments many workers would, in the normal course of their employment, be required to work on all or most of the public holidays. Even where public holiday work was not a normal feature of his job, a worker might, in exceptional circumstances, have to work on an odd public holiday. It is, therefore, necessary and desirable to retain the various alternatives which existing legislation provides to cover such cases.
A worker who is required to work on a public holiday will, therefore, be entitled to one or other of the following:—
(a)a day off, with pay, within a month; or
(b)an additional day, with pay, added to his annual leave or
(c)extra payment for the public holiday.
The 1939 Act provided for payment of a worker who worked on a public holiday and who was not given a compensatory holiday, at a minimum rate of time and a quarter. The Bill proposes that this rate be increased to double time. This rate is fairly common practice in industrial employment but it is by no means universal.
I consider that the higher rate is justifiable. The real purpose of this section in the Bill, is to give workers a right on a public holiday to the day off with pay. Employers have considerable flexibility in arranging for compensatory time off for workers who are required to work on a public holiday. The increase in the rate of pay from time and a quarter to double time does not therefore impose any burden.
A number of provisions in existing legislation are being retained either unchanged or with minor amendments. For instance, the Bill continues the provision that an employer who dismisses a worker immediately before a public holiday must, if the worker has worked for the qualifying period, pay him a day's pay in respect of the holiday. Workers will continue to be entitled to get annual leave within their employment year, i.e., a year counting from the date or anniversary of the date, of entry into employment. A worker whose remuneration includes board and lodgings must be given a specified daily allowance in lieu while on holidays but the rate of allowance prescribed in the 1939 Act is being appropriately increased.
When the Bill was in course of preparation, I received suggested amendments from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and a number of these have been incorporated in the present text. I intend to propose some other amendments on the Committee Stage.
Part IV of the Bill contains the usual provisions relating to offences, prosecutions, penalties, and powers of inspectors. I do not think they call for any particular comment other than to say that the fines have been revised upwards to take account of the change in the value of money.
I feel sure that the House will agree that the proposals in this Bill are reasonable and timely. The Government has proceeded with its preparation and introduction with all possible speed so as to ensure that workers will derive benefit from its provisions during the present holiday season. There is a provision in the Bill which will give workers an entitlement to the additional annual leave retrospective to the beginning of the employment year current at the commencement of the Act. To enable these hopes to be realised I look forward to a speedy passage of the Bill through its stages in the House.