Vol. 497 No. 7
87 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of occasions the monitoring group on the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, has met since its establishment; the group's work programme and progress to date; when she expects it to complete its work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26221/98]
The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, took full effect as and from 1 March 1998. It provides statutory rights for employees in respect of rest, maximum working time and holidays and it implements EU Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993, concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time.
The monitoring group on the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, held its first meeting in July 1998 and has met on three occasions since then. The terms of reference for the group require it to review experience generally with regard to implementation of the Act and of statutory instruments made under it; to assess the effectiveness of the Act and of the statutory instruments made under it; to identify any significant or widespread difficulties in the workplace arising from implementation of the Act and of statutory instruments made under it and to make recommendations as to measures to solve such difficulties; to identify, examine and suggest solutions in relation to any specific difficulties that may be encountered by small enterprises arising from the implementation of the Act and the statutory instruments made under it and to assess the impact of, and identify any shortcomings in, the publicity in relation to the Act and statutory instruments made under it and to make recommendations as to future publicity activity.
To date the group has identified a number of issues which are causing problems regarding the implementation of the Act and submissions in relation to these issues have been received from the parties concerned. These submissions are currently being addressed by the group.
The work of the group, as its terms of reference indicate, is expected to be ongoing.
