I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The main purpose of this Bill is to increase from two weeks to three the workers' minimum annual holidays entitlement with pro-rata entitlements for periods of employment of less than a year. In other words, the Bill is a synthesis of the practices followed in good employment. Provisions in the Bill also deal with holiday cesser pay and public holiday entitlements on a basis broadly similar to the 1961 Act.
The provisions in the Bill do not apply to agricultural workers. They are covered by separate legislation administered by the Agricultural Wages Board. Deputies will be aware that the Government have already announced that the legislation which determines the wages and holidays of agricultural workers is under review in consultation with the interests concerned. I have taken power in the Bill, with appropriate ancillary and supplemental provisions, to bring agricultural workers within its scope by affirmative order of the Oireachtas if it should be considered appropriate to do so.
Since the existing minimum statutory holiday entitlements of two weeks' leave and six public holidays were prescribed in the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1961, the majority of workers have, through collective bargaining, secured an additional week's holidays. The general position now is that the three-weeks minimum holiday obtains in good employments throughout Irish industry. This Bill will however assist those workers who cannot invoke the aid of a trade union and who are deprived of holiday entitlements by virtue of their weak bargaining position.
Apart from increasing holiday entitlements, the Bill has a number of other features which are an improvement on the 1961 Act. It prescribes a standard "leave year" beginning on 1st April each year, which will apply to all workers. This replaces the provision in the 1961 Act whereby leave entitlements were related to a worker's "employment year" based on the date on which he took up employment and anniversaries of that date. Thus, employees in the same firm could have different "employment years" depending on the date on which they started work. This Bill, if enacted, will simplify matters inasmuch as leave entitlements for all employees would be calculated in future by reference to the same "leave year" from 1st April to 31st March.
The qualifying conditions for entitlement to annual leave have also been eased. Under the 1961 Act, an industrial worker had to complete 1,600 hours during his "employment year" in order to qualify for the two weeks annual leave. There was no provision for proportionate leave entitlement for an employee working less than 1,600 hours except where he ceased employment. Under this Bill, as drafted, an employee will be entitled to paid leave in a leave year in which he has completed at least one "qualifying month of service", comprising a calendar month in which he works at least 125 hours, or 115 hours if under 18 years of age. For 12 such months, the worker qualifies for three weeks leave, and he gets proportionately less for 11 or fewer qualifying months. If he has eight or more qualifying months of service, he is entitled to an unbroken holiday period of two weeks. There is provision for excluding from an employee's annual leave period a day on which he is sick, provided he furnishes a medical certificate. There was no corresponding provision in the 1961 Act.
The prescribed minimum of 125 hours in a "qualifying month of service" makes allowance for the general reduction which has occurred in the working week since 1961 and for possible absences due to sickness and other reasons. Casual and short-term workers would also qualify on this basis. The Bill has also removed the distinction between the qualifying conditions for leave purposes as between "domestic" and "non domestic" workers which existed under the 1961 Act. It was one of the anomalies of earlier legislation on holidays that one of the most exploited sections of our work force, domestic workers, had this underprivileged position enshrined in the law. This has now been corrected.
Provisions in the Bill about public holiday entitlements and for compensation, where workers opt, or are obliged, to work on public holidays, are somewhat similar to those in the 1961 Act. However, a full-time employee automatically qualifies for public holiday entitlements if he is in employment at that time; he does not have to work for a specified minimum number of hours beforehand. This is an improvement compared with the 1961 Act.
The provision about leave arrangements permits an employer to decide when annual leave may be granted but only on certain conditions. These include consulting with the employee or his trade union at least one month beforehand and allowing the leave to be taken within the relevant "leave year" or within six months after it ends. Thus, for the leave year starting 1st April, 1974, holidays may be allowed in the 18 months between that date and 30th September, 1975. Flexibility of this kind is designed to benefit both the employer and/or the employee.
Sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Bill contain the usual provisions relating to prosecutions of offences and the recovery of moneys due to an employee. The provisions in sections 10 and 11 about the keeping of records and the enforcement powers of inspectors are similar to those in the 1961 Act. However, the provision about records has been made more precise to facilitate inspectors in checking compliance with the provisions of the Bill. A specific requirement has been placed on employers to keep records of annual leave for examination by inspectors.
In order to ensure that this legislation, as an instrument of social reform, retains a capacity to be adjusted in accordance with desirable social trends, under section 13 I have taken powers to modify provisions in the Act by regulations. The use of such powers would require prior consultation with the appropriate workers' and employers' organisations. There is also a requirement that drafts of regulations, for the purposes of section 2, must be laid before each House of the Oireachtas with a view to securing their approval by means of affirmative order. In this way it will not be necessary to introduce amending legislation on each occasion when a major change is being made in relation to the "excluded categories" while ensuring, at the same time, that the Oireachtas retains full control over such changes. I think this power is necessary as this is the third piece of legislation we have had on holidays, and for changes envisaged in the future we should not have to embark on the procedure of fresh legislation.
Section 16 provides that if the Bill is enacted annual leave or public holiday entitlements shall no longer arise under the 1961 Act. That section contains transitional bridging provisions, however, whereby workers will be able to preserve title to any holiday entitlements acquired under the 1961 Act while, at the same time, they would be building up entitlements under this Bill, if enacted. In order to avoid very complex provisions which would be only of a temporary nature, simply designed to ensure this bridging effect, a special formula was designed which would afford a worker a choice of two options when the proposed Bill comes into force. First, he can claim the statutory compensation in lieu of holiday entitlements, whether in respect of annual leave or public holidays, due to him under the 1961 Act in the same way as if his employment ceased on the day before the new Act comes into force. If he accepts the cesser pay involved, further holiday entitlements will accrue only under the new Act. Alternatively, with the agreement of both parties, he may carry over leave due to him under the 1961 Act into the new "leave year". This arrangement was included in order to give effect to my wish that no worker should suffer loss of benefit to which he would otherwise be entitled under the 1961 Act simply as a result of the new Bill being enacted.
As regards section 17 and the Schedule to the Bill, I should explain that, following consultation with the Minister for Finance, it was decided that in future I should be responsible for administering legislation about public holidays. Under existing legislation there are six "public holidays" to which this Bill applies. I have taken power, however, to appoint, by regulations, new public holidays or to change an existing public holiday to a different day. I have also taken this opportunity to formally substitute the first Monday in June as a public holiday instead of Whit Monday. This will obviate the need to make an annual order changing it, which was necessary under the present legislation.
Similar flexible arrangements have been made in the case of Church holydays. I feel that flexible measures of this kind are desirable to avoid unnecessarily cumbersome legislative procedures, especially when these matters are for the most part noncontroversial.
At this point I should like to say a word about public holidays in general. The position is that Britain and Ireland have the fewest public holidays of all EEC countries although Britain has now decided in favour of an extra public holiday. Both countries have at present six public holidays. And, as I said, Britain has made a decision to have an extra one. That leaves Ireland at the bottom of the list with six public holidays just below Britain.
The position elsewhere in the EEC is that Italy has 17 public holidays, Germany ten to 13, depending on the province, Belgium and Luxembourg ten, Denmark nine to ten, depending on regional variations, France five to ten and the Netherlands seven. Clearly here in Ireland our working people in the public holidays they enjoy will have to be brought closer to the European norm. Naturally from a position where we are lowest in the table, this will require a phased approach in consultation with both sides in industry.
I have decided to add an extra public holiday to the present six which we have and the Government have so agreed. January 1st has been mentioned as a likely date. Before making any formal decision on the actual date of this new public holiday, I would hope to consult further with unions and employers because I should like to see our approach on this process of the levelling up of the number of our public holidays to that enjoyed in other EEC countries proceeding in as comprehensive a fashion as possible rather than piecemeal. I am proceeding with this consultation and, before the Bill passes all stages, I hope I will be able to make a more concrete statement on the matter.
This holiday legislation is the product of a great deal of consultation with both employers and trade unions. Its provisions are designed to provide that workers in a weak bargaining position, who cannot invoke the aid of a trade union, enjoy holiday entitlements which remain in line with those prevailing in good employment currently.
In legislation of this kind consultation with employers and unions is of a continuing kind. Due to developments since its drafting I should like to inform the House that I propose during Committee Stage to move the following amendments:
(a) Provide in section 3 that, as an alternative to qualifying for leave entitlements on a monthly basis only, an employee in continuous employment who works 1,400 hours, or 1,300 if under 18 years of age, in a leave year, may also be entitled to three weeks holidays irrespective of the number of hours worked during any one month. This restores a somewhat similar provision contained in the 1961 Act;
(b) Provide in section 3 subsection (6) that the minimum hours per "qualifying month of service" for leave entitlement purposes shall be amended to read 120, or 110 hours if under 18 years of age, instead of 125 and 115 respectively, as appears in the Bill as circulated. These reductions are considered justified in line with the general trend towards a 40-hour normal working week;
(c) Provide in section 5 subsection (2) that compensation for annual leave in respect of cesser of day-to-day employment where the employee has worked 120 hours during the preceding 30 days shall be at the rate of 1¼ days' pay. This will bring the compensation into line proportionately with annual leave entitlements on the monthly basis.
Looking at the Bill as a whole, the House will, I think, agree that its provisions, including the amendments which I have mentioned, represent a further legislative advance in the conditions of employment of a large number of Irish workers. It is a very simple and straightforward piece of legislation which, at the same time, will afford flexibility for modifications in appropriate cases.
I am naturally anxious to have the Bill enacted well in advance of the beginning of the new "leave year" on the 1st April, 1974, to afford both workers and employers ample time to familiarise themselves with its provisions, and to enable them to make the necessary arrangements about leave entitlements on the new basis. For these reasons, I commend the Bill to the House and look forward to the speedy passage of all its Stages.
